Travel CEO Turnover in 2021 Ushers in New Leaders for Recovery Fight

The churn was on this year for the top job at many travel companies. 

Major airlines like Southwest and American, hotel companies like Marriott and Best Western, online travel agencies, and even Amtrak and Royal Caribbean all ushered in or made plans for new CEOs over the span of the year. Some were unexpected leadership shifts while others were years in the making. 

The middle of a pandemic might seem like a questionable time for these 11 travel companies to pursue a leadership change. However, something as cataclysmic to the industry as the pandemic would understandably leave many to reassess their careers — as the Great Resignation has proven.

“The demands of the CEO have never been greater. If I was a CEO of a big travel or hospitality business, and I've been thinking about whether I want to do something different or when's a good time to go, maybe people that are having those thoughts brought them forward,” said Ian Brooks, a partner and co-founder of Gail Kenny Executive Recruitment. “I certainly know of one or two CEOs who decided to call their retirement or their change in career move earlier.”

But this isn’t necessarily a case of travel CEOs jumping ship, either. Several of the CEO shifts were a long time coming or were announced after the recovery appeared to be gaining momentum. 

“A lot of CEOs have wanted to see their companies through this period. That's been clear. This is really where leadership comes to the fore,” Brooks said. “At the same time, some of those people by this summer may have got to a stage where it looked like the pandemic was sort of starting to disappear, business was coming back, people were traveling again, and hotels were starting to fill up.” 

“Some people have probably said, ‘Actually, I feel I've done my job. I've seen this company through, so I feel happy about going.’ Of course, now here we go again [with another variant], which makes it harder in terms of that motivational piece.”

Deciding to stay in power can be a question of whether current leadership wants to undergo another growth cycle at their respective company as well as the greater travel industry.

While the pandemic was an unprecedented downturn, the recovery momentum has been — all variants and uncertainty considered — swift relative to prior crises like the Sept. 11 terro