Mesa Airlines announced that John Selvaggio has been promoted to the position of Senior Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.
Most recently serving as the Company’s Vice President of Customer Service and Station Operations, Selvaggio joined Mesa in 2014 as Vice President of Business Development and Resource Planning and was later named Vice President of DFW Operations.
With more than 35 years of airline experience with American Airlines, US Airways and Delta Air Lines, in his new role, Selvaggio will oversee Flight Operations, Maintenance, and Customer Service functions for the airline, reporting to Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein. Mesa’s Inflight Services department will report to Executive Vice President and General Counsel Brian Gillman.
“John has been a valuable member of our management team for more than two years now, and his background as both a former CEO and operations executive at both regional and mainline carriers made him the clear choice to become Mesa’s next COO,” said Chairman and CEO Jonathan Ornstein. “John and I first worked together in 1998 and the result was an innovative capacity purchase agreement. We welcome John’s wide range of operations and management experience to the role.”
Before joining Mesa, Selvaggio’s career milestones include serving as Assistant Vice President of Strategic Planning for American Airlines, President and COO of Wings West (American Eagle), President, CEO and COO of Midway Airlines, and Vice President of US Airways Express for US Airways, Inc. He also served as Senior Vice President – Airport Customer Service for Delta Air Lines and President, CEO and COO of Delta’s innovative low-cost subsidiary, Song Airlines. From 2007 to 2009, he served as President and CEO of Delta-owned Comair.
“I’m thrilled to have this opportunity and look forward to helping build on Mesa’s success. The Company has come a long way in the past two years and it’s an exciting time to be here – with full classes of qualified pilots and industry-leading operational performance,” said Selvaggio. “Working together, we will continue our focus on operational excellence and ongoing service enhancements. Mesa is very well positioned and I’m proud to be a part of this next chapter.”
Selvaggio holds Bachelor of Science degree in Accounting from Fordham University and has served as a director for numerous professional organizations including the Regional Airline Association.