Amerijet names new chief executive as Strauss retires
04 / 10 / 2023
Photo: Osvaldo Guerra/ Amerijet
US cargo airline Amerijet has appointed its chief financial officer Joe Mozzali as chief executive, effective October 7.
Mozzali replaces outgoing chief executive Tim Strauss, who is retiring.
Before joining Amerijet in February this year, Mozzali held a range of senior leadership roles in finance and strategy at UPS.
This includes serving as chief financial officer of UPS Airlines, chief financial officer of UPS International & Supply Chain, vice president of strategy for UPS Europe, Middle East and Africa and chief executive of Kiala, a European e-commerce logistics company acquired by UPS.
“I am thrilled and honoured by the opportunity to lead Team Amerijet as we execute our vision to be the go-to, world-class cargo carrier of choice for our customers and our people,” said Mozzali.
The carrier admitted that Mozzali’s appointment comes as the industry faces “cooling macroeconomic conditions after several years of strong growth”.
It has had to make headcount adjustments this year.
He will lead continuous improvement efforts involving Amerijet’s people, processes, and technology.
“Over the past several years, Amerijet has significantly expanded its fleet and entered into new markets while diversifying its service offerings. With much of the industry facing cost and demand headwinds, success demands agility, innovation, and disciplined operational excellence with a surgical focus on enhancing the customer experience,” Mozzali added.
“We are very excited about Joe becoming Amerijet’s next CEO. His leadership skills, strategic insights, deep industry knowledge, and disciplined management style make him the perfect choice to lead our company. We have great confidence in Joe’s ability to lead us to new heights as the air cargo carrier of choice,” said Bob Horne, a partner at ZS Fund L.P. and Amerijet board member.
“We thank Tim for his excellent leadership during a period of tremendous growth for Amerijet over the past three years and wish him well in his retirement,” added Horne.
Strauss has been a stalwart of the air cargo industry, occupying several senior roles over the years.
Before joining Amerijet, he headed up the cargo division of Air Canada and also Hawaiian.
He also held senior positions at Purolator Courier, Emery Worldwide, Northwest Airlines and Delta.
At Amerijet, he oversaw the rapid expansion of the airline’s freighter fleet over the last few years.
The airline grew its fleet from eight freighters at the start of 2020 to 22 by the end of last year, with five more due to arrive in 2023.
His time at the airline hasn’t always been straight forward; in September 2021 he briefly left the company only to return a few days later.
