CHICAGO, Jan. 7 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.
(NYSE: OWW) today announced the appointment of Barney Harford as the company's
president and CEO. Harford has also been appointed to the Orbitz Worldwide
board of directors. Harford will succeed Steve Barnhart who resigned to pursue
other interests. Barnhart will remain with the company through early April in
an advisory role to assist with the transition.
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"Barney Harford brings extensive experience in building and operating
online travel businesses around the world. He spent nearly eight years at
Expedia developing the company's air, car, private label and telesales
businesses, most recently leading the company's entry into the Asia Pacific
region," said Jeff Clarke, Chairman of the Orbitz Worldwide board of
directors. "Barney's appointment marks an important moment in the development
of Orbitz Worldwide as it becomes a more operationally efficient organization
and grows its presence in international markets."
"Orbitz Worldwide owns a set of strong travel brands that are well known
in their respective markets, including Orbitz, Orbitz for Business,
CheapTickets, ebookers, HotelClub and Away," said Barney Harford, President
and CEO, Orbitz Worldwide. "I am excited by the opportunity to lead this team
as we focus on building a global marketplace that delivers meaningful value to
both consumers and suppliers around the world."
"Steve Barnhart played a critical role as CEO in taking Orbitz Worldwide
public and leading a major re-engineering process," added Clarke. "The board
of directors extends its thanks to Steve for these accomplishments and his
years of service."
Additional cost reduction measures
In addition to its leadership transition, Orbitz Worldwide today announced
that it will take further measures to lower its operating costs. In
combination with the expense and workforce reductions announced in November
2008, these latest measures are designed to position Orbitz Worldwide for
success in the face of the challenging economic prospects for the global
travel industry. Over the next several weeks, Orbitz Worldwide will implement
measures designed to lower its cost structure by an estimated additional $20-
25 million annually, in addition to the $20 million of annual cost reductions
announced in November 2008.
About Barney Harford
Barney Harford has extensive experience building and operating internet
businesses. For the past two years he has served in board and advisory
capacities to internet companies in travel and other verticals. Harford
currently serves on the board of directors of LiquidPlanner, an on-demand
project management service that helps companies manage uncertainty, and
GlobalEnglish, a leading provider of online English language training services
to multinational corporations. Harford served on the board of directors of
eLong, which is controlled by Expedia, from 2004 to 2008, and as an advisor to
Kayak.com in 2008.
Harford served in a variety of roles at Expedia, Inc. from 1999 to 2006.
As President of Expedia Asia Pacific from 2004 to 2006, he launched Expedia's
business in the region, leading the company's entry into China, Japan and
Australia, and the company's controlling investment in eLong. Previously,
Harford served as Senior Vice President of Air, Car & Private Label; developed
Expedia's private label business, WWTE, and Expedia's telesales business; and
led Expedia's Corporate Development, Strategic Planning and Investor Relations
functions. He joined Expedia as a Product Planner in 1999 when Expedia was a
division of Microsoft.
Prior to joining Expedia, Harford worked in the United Kingdom as a
strategy consultant with The Kalchas Group. He holds an MBA from INSEAD and a
Master of Arts degree in Natural Sciences from Clare College, Cambridge
University.
About Steve Barnhart
Steve Barnhart joined Orbitz in 2003 and was part of the finance team that
took the company public later that year. During his tenure as President and
CEO, Steve led Orbitz Worldwide when it went public in 2007. He created the
organization's public company infrastructure, completed the migration of
ebookers' 13 sites onto one common technology platform and launched the Orbitz
Price Assurance(SM) service.
Media and Investor Call and Availability
The company will hold a brief conference call -- open to the media and
public -- to discuss the CEO transition and Orbitz Worldwide's latest cost
reduction efforts today, January 7, at 9:00 a.m., EST (8:00 a.m., CST). A live
webcast of the call can be accessed through the Orbitz Worldwide Investor
Relations website at http://www.orbitz-ir.com. To access the call through a
conference line, dial +1-888-381-5775 in the United States (passcode: ORBITZ).
Callers outside the United States can access the conference call by dialing +1
-517-308-9252.
The recorded webcast will be archived on the Orbitz Worldwide Investor
Relations website for approximately 30 days after the date of the call.
About Orbitz Worldwide
Orbitz Worldwide (NYSE: OWW) is a leading global online travel company
that uses innovative technology to enable leisure and business travelers to
research, plan and book a broad range of travel products. Orbitz Worldwide
owns and operates a portfolio of consumer brands that includes Orbitz
(http://www.orbitz.com), CheapTickets (http://www.cheaptickets.com), ebookers
(http://www.ebookers.com), HotelClub (http://www.hotelclub.com), RatesToGo
(http://www.ratestogo.com), the Away Network (http://www.away.com), and
corporate travel brand Orbitz for Business (http://www.orbitzforbusiness.com).
For more information on how your company can partner with Orbitz Worldwide,
visit http://corp.orbitz.com.
Orbitz Worldwide uses its Investor Relations website to make information
available to its investors and the public at http://www.orbitz-ir.com. You can
sign up to receive email alerts whenever the company posts new information to
the website.
Forward-Looking Statements
This press release contains forward-looking statements that involve risks,
uncertainties and other factors concerning, among other things, Orbitz
Worldwide's expected financial performance and its strategic operational
plans. The company's actual results could differ materially from the results
expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. More information
regarding these and other risks, uncertainties and factors is contained in the
section entitled "Risk Factors" in the company's filings with the Securities
and Exchange Commission ("SEC"), which are available on the SEC's website at
http://www.sec.gov or the company's Investor Relations website at
http://orbitz-ir.com. You are cautioned not to unduly rely on these forward-
looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this press release.
Orbitz Worldwide undertakes no obligation to publicly revise these forward-
looking statements to reflect circumstances or events after the date of this
press release.
SOURCE Orbitz Worldwide, Inc.