The Inside Story of an Online Travel Reunion at the New Uber
Photo Caption: Uber selected Barney Harford, the former CEO of Orbitz Worldwide, as COO. Trevor Kight
Skift Take
There were a ton of people who wanted the COO position at Uber, and it went to Expedia alum and former Orbtiz Worldwide CEO Barney Harford. The pressure will be on both Khosrowshahi and Harford to turn around the ridesharing company. As if there weren't abundant pressure already.
In tapping Barney Harford, a former Expedia executive and the ex-CEO of Orbitz Worldwide, to run operations at Uber during the challenging times ahead, Uber boss Dara Khosrowshahi picked someone whom he's worked with and competed against for 16 years.
In fact, Harford sold Orbitz Worldwide to Khosrowshahi's Expedia Inc. for $1.6 billion in 2015. Although Orbitz never challenged Expedia's dominance in the U.S. market when Harford was Orbitz CEO, he was widely credited for modernizing a struggling online travel agency that had been on the brink of bankruptcy, and boosting its share price from $3.77 on the day he was appointed in 2009 to $12 per share when Expedia bought it.
Over the years, Khosrowshahi's Expedia and Harford's Orbitz Worldwide engaged in high-stake battles over the hotel market, which Expedia dominated; airline booking fees; private label client wins, and loyalty programs, to name a few areas.
Here's the inside story of how Harford got picked as Uber COO, a posit
