Cendant named Gordon Bethune, Continentals
colorful, effective and sometimes controversial former chairman and
CEO, to become chairman of its Travel Distribution Services
division.
Bethune will continue
as non-executive chairman at TDS when the company completes the
spin-off of its travel distribution business to Cendant
shareholders early in the fourth quarter of this year, Cendant
said.
Bethunes first task
will be to help Cendant chairman and CEO Henry Silverman identify
and recruit a CEO for TDS from a list of finalists that already has
been assembled, Silverman said.
Until then, Cendants
president and CFO, Ronald Nelson, will continue serving as CEO and
president of TDS on an interim basis.
Bethune joined
Continental in February 1994 as president and COO, became its CEO
in November 1994 and its chairman in September 1996, and is widely
credited with having turned around the airlines financial and
operational performance.
Bethune retired from
Continental at the end of 2004. Most recently, he founded GB1
Partners, a privately held consulting firm to the travel
industry.
To contact the
reporter who wrote this article, send e-mail to Andrew Compart at
[email protected].