HONOLULU – June 27, 2011 - Hawaiian Airlines announced the appointment of Tom Wessner to the new position of vice president – strategic procurement.
Hawaiian created this new position as part of a recent corporate realignment, which identified the development of in-house procurement expertise as essential to reducing costs and improving the company’s ability to stay competitive. Wessner is charged with centralizing Hawaiian’s procurement activities and streamlining its purchasing processes. He reports to Peter Ingram, Hawaiian’s executive vice president and chief financial officer.
“Tom has an extensive professional background in purchasing management combined with strong business analytics that will strengthen our procurement activities and help improve our bottom line results,” said Ingram.
Wessner comes to Hawaiian with 24 years of procurement experience in the automotive industry. Before joining Hawaiian, Wessner served as director of purchasing for Tesla Motors, a start-up electrical car company based in Palo Alto, CA. From 2005-2008, he served as deputy general manager for the purchasing division at Mazda Motor Corporation in Hiroshima, Japan. Prior to that, he spent six years with Ford of Mexico in Mexico City, serving in director positions responsible for procurement, communications, and new business development.
Wessner did his undergraduate and post-graduate studies at Pennsylvania State University, earning his Bachelor of Science degree in Industrial and Organizational Psychology in 1982, followed by a Master of Business Administration degree in finance in 1986.
About Hawaiian Airlines
Hawaiian has led all U.S. carriers in on-time performance for each of the past seven years (2004-2010) as reported by the U.S. Department of Transportation. In addition, consumer surveys by
Condé Nast Traveler, Travel + Leisure and Zagat have all ranked Hawaiian the top domestic airline offering flights to Hawaii. Hawaiian was also the nation’s highest-ranked carrier for service quality and performance in the prestigious Airline Quality Rating (AQR) study for 2008 and 2009.
Now in its 82nd year of continuous service in Hawaii, Hawaiian is the largest provider of passenger air service to Hawaii from the state’s primary visitor markets on the U.S. mainland. Hawaiian offers nonstop service to Hawaii from more U.S. gateway cities (10) than any other airline, as well as service to South Korea, Japan, the Philippines, Australia, American Samoa, and Tahiti. Hawaiian also provides approximately 150 daily jet flights between the Hawaiian Islands.
Hawaiian Airlines, Inc. is a subsidiary of Hawaiian Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ: HA). Additional information is available at www.HawaiianAirlines.com.