Virgin Australia is flying its frequent flyer program into the future, with the appointment of Karl Schuster as Velocity’s new Chief Executive Officer.
Announced today, Mr Schuster joins the loyalty program after serving as Managing Director of Carlson Marketing Group Australia and New Zealand based in Sydney for five years.
In 2006 he was promoted to President of the Asia Pacific region. Following the acquisition of Carlson Marketing by Aimia in late 2009, he was re-located to Singapore to oversee the development of Aimia’s business in Asia where he led the implementation of some of the largest and most successful loyalty programs across the airline, financial services and retail sectors as well as leading a number of Aimia investment initiatives in the region.
Prior to moving to Australia, Schuster spent ten years with the Ogilvy Group, culminating in leading the OgilvyOne business in Cape Town, South Africa.
From 1 October 2015, he will join Virgin’s Velocity program with over 30 years experience in loyalty and marketing.
Virgin Australia Group Chief Executive Officer John Borghetti said he’s keen to see Schuster lead the business into its next phase of growth.
“Karl’s extensive background in loyalty and marketing, together with his strong leadership experience, will prove invaluable to Velocity and the Virgin Australia Group.”
John Borghetti, Virgin Australia Group Chief Executive Officer
Mr Schuster has worked on four continents in leadership roles and obtained a Bachelor of Commerce Degree from University College Dublin in 1984.