Cathy Pelaez, who more than 28 years ago was hired as a receptionist at Liberty Travel and eventually climbed to become its president, has resigned, effective Feb. 6.
Billy McDonough, formerly vice president of retail for Flight Centre, Liberty’s parent company, replaces Pelaez.
Michele Kish, vice president of Gogo Worldwide Vacations, has been promoted to become that wholesaler’s president. Gogo is Liberty's sister company. And Dean Smith, who had been president of Gogo, will assume the title of executive general manager in charge of all of Flight Centre’s U.S. operations.
Smith replaces Sue Rennick, who will move to Australia to head up Flight Centre’s land-contracting division there.
The U.S. operations include FCm Travel Solutions, a corporate division that used to report to a Canadian office.
Pelaez said her resignation was "absolutely, positively my choice, my timing -- 100%. The folks at Flight Centre have been as gracious, caring and supportive of my decision as if I had worked for them my entire career."
The reason for resigning, she said, was that "it’s time for chapter two in my life."
Pelaez said she’ll be spending the next few weeks visiting Liberty locations, saying goodbye to colleagues. Then she will spend "a little time at home, time to travel, a little R-and-R. I’ll see what comes next -- I have no further plans right now."
In an internal memo, Pelaez wrote, "Never did I dream that I would be granted the privilege to lead the greatest team in our industry. I have been blessed with the best job in the world. ... I [only] regret that I will not be here to share the many successes you are destined to realize in the future."
In an interview with Travel Weekly, Smith acknowledged her contributions, saying, “Were happy for her and thank her for the legacy she left for the Liberty Travel organization.”
Australia-based Flight Centre acquired Liberty Travel (No. 10 on Travel Weekly’s Power List) and GoGo Worldwide Vacations in November 2007 for $135 million from the families of its founders, Fred Kassner and Gil Haroche. Kassner’s daughter, Michelle, was president at the time of the acquisition.
Pelaez was promoted from chief operating officer to president in March of last year. At the same time, Smith, a long-time Flight Centre executive, was brought in from Australia to lead Gogo.
Pelaez acknowledged that going from a private, family-held company to a public, global operation was "challenging, but I can’t say not to my liking."
"Having more buying power and influence was one very positive change," she said. "They added more structure to our organization than we’ve had in the past. We struggled for years with our technology, and they bring wonderful IT platforms. Their structure encourages people to work in small teams and take ownership of their work, and that has been very good."
Top among the things Pelaez missed was the presence of the late Fred Kassner. "He was truly my mentor. He was so special, and I know I’ll take what I learned from him wherever I go next. Gil, Michelle, they were like family to me, and that’s impossible to replace."
Pelaez said she’s not sure that her "chapter two" will be in travel. "I have a great passion for it. It’s a possibility, but I haven’t closed options to anything."
Flight Centre also announced the U.S. promotions of Natalie Benson to chief financial officer, Gregory Lording to lead FCm Travel Solutions and Mark Benson to head global product.