Our people

François Mirallié Deputy Chief Executive Officer WFS, A Member of the SATS Group

François Mirallié is the Deputy CEO of WFS. He joined the company in August 2016 as Group Chief Financial Officer.

François is a seasoned executive with global experience, and was CFO of Customs Sensors & Technologies before joining WFS. Prior to this, he had held similar positions in several multinational companies, including Ion Beam Applications, a company listed on the Brussels Stock Exchange; MediMedia, a publishing and marketing services business; Vizada, a satellite telecommunications company; and Zodiac Marine & Pool.

François graduated from Ecole des Mines de Paris and the Wharton Advanced Management Program at the University of Pennsylvania.

Michael Simpson Chief Executive Officer, Americas WFS, A Member of the SATS Group

Mike Simpson is CEO of WFS the Americas. He joined the company in August 2016 as the CFO the Americas and was promoted to Executive Vice President the Americas in 2019.

Mike oversees WFS operations in North and South America. Prior to joining WFS, he was CFO of Sensis, Inc., a print and digital media portfolio company owned by Platinum Equity Holdings, LLC. Michael also served as CFO in several Platinum portfolio companies and Vice President of Portfolio Operations, managing the financial and operational transition of newly acquired companies at Platinum Equity. Prior to this, he was CFO of CompuCom Systems, Inc., an IT outsourcing company in North America.

Mike holds an MBA in Finance from St Mary’s University and a BBA in Accounting from Abilene Christian University.

John Batten Chief Executive Officer, Europe, Middle East, Africa & Asia (EMEAA) WFS, A Member of the SATS Group

John Batten is CEO of WFS Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia (EMEAA). He joined the company in 2015 as the Executive Vice President for WFS Business Development. He later took on the role of EVP for WFS’s cargo operations in Europe, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.

John has over 43 years of senior leadership experience in the aviation industry. Before joining WFS, John was EVP of Cargo at Swissport. Prior to this, he was Senior Vice President of Cargo at Qatar Airways. He also held a leadership position at TNT Airways and was responsible for setting up the airline. An active member of IATA working groups on e-Freight, e-AWB and Cargo 2000, John is now a Cargo iQ board member.

Andrew Bonney Global Head of Project Management Office

Andrew Bonney joined WFS as Interim Global PMO in 2018. He is based in Paris.

Andrew brings with him over 25 year’ experience in operations across the automotive, oil and gas, heavy equipment and industrial products sectors. Working in-house and in consultancies, he has led operational turnaround programmes, he developed and implemented deployment strategies, profitability improvement programmes and production systems.

Prior to joining WFS, Andrew was Interim Head of Commercial at Staples Solutions Since 2017 with commercial responsibility for B2B and online business across six European regions. He joined Staples Solutions in 2017 as Interim PMO lead where he set up the Programme Management Office.

Andrew has a Bachelor of Engineering from the Royal Naval Engineering College.

David Clark Global Head of HSSE

David holds an Aeronautical Engineering degree from Glasgow University. He comes from British Airways where he has held various Engineering and Ground Operations roles over more than 17 years, including the last 8 years in senior management.

Most recently David ran the Ground Operations safety, quality and training functions globally, working with the airline’s in-house ground handling teams, ground service providers, partner airlines and IATA to drive improvements in safety and security.

Fabienne Bricaud Global Head of People

Fabienne is a considerably experienced multi-site, multi-national B2B HR Director.

She started her career with Alcatel-Alsthom, in the telecoms & engineering sector, where she gained experience within its operating divisions, firstly in France and then internationally.She successfully led a number of people transformational programs aimed at promoting robust network-wide common operational delivery cultures. She also established strong leadership teams and talent development processes across the organisation.

In 2013, Fabienne became Group HR Director for Mobivia, Europe’s leader in multi-brand providers of vehicle servicing & parts, which employs today 22,000 people.

Fabienne holds a Master of Economics, specialising in Human Resources, and is married with two children.

Catherine Thomas Group General Counsel & Head of Legal

Catherine joined WFS in May 2017 as General Counsel & Head of Legal and is based at WFS’ global headquarters in Paris, Madeleine.

She has 25 years of legal experience acquired in the UK and in France, starting out as a litigator in private practice and then running in-house legal functions for leading global companies as General Counsel.

After earning her LLB Law Degree with French at De Montford University in the UK in 1987, Catherine worked for law firms in Paris and London. Between 2007 and 2015, she was General Counsel at Global Closures Systems in Paris, later joining the computer hardware and storage company Diebold France as Vice President & General Counsel, EMEA, the post she held prior to joining WFS.

Pedro Garcia Group Chief Information Officer

Prior to joining WFS, Pedro spent 10 years with Swissport, including the last five years in the role of Vice President, Cargo Information Systems.

At WFS, he is responsible for the development of robust, sustainable and standard IT solutions that will support WFS and its customers as WFS continues to efficiently grow its global airport services portfolio.

Barry D. Nassberg Group Chief Commercial Officer

Barry leads the global commercial development activities of WFS.  He joined WFS 29 years ago, initially working in Europe during the company’s time as a subsidiary of American Airlines, and later in Asia as he led the company’s rapid growth in regions beyond its traditional strongholds in Europe and North America.

Barry’s career in aviation began as a Passenger Services Agent 43 years ago. He went on to work for Pan American Airways in a career that has encompassed the full range of airline and airport services activities.

Barry is WFS’ delegate to the industry trade organisations, a Trustee of TIACA, and serves on the Board of the Airport Services Association. He also served on the Board of the Hong Kong Tourism Board, appointed by the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region from 2013 to 2019.

Mohammed Esa Commercial Business Development & Strategy

Esa brings 30 years of global Leadership experience in Commercial, P&L and Operational roles in the transportation & logistics industry.

He has spent the last 18 years at Agility Logistics where he was most recently SVP Global Business Development & Global Lead Digital Customer Solutions. In this role, Esa was responsible for shaping & executing Agility’s commercial strategy including building and scaling solution driven, strategic, long term customer relationships across various industry sectors. As part of his digital role, he was overseeing the delivery of a consistent experience for Agility’s customers as well as deploying new and emerging technology solutions including IOT, Blockchain and enhanced Supply Chain Visibility to improve the customer experience.

Prior to his global role, he was Agility’s Chief Executive Officer & SVP of UAE, Oman & Bahrain where he led a turnaround of loss-making entities, improved operational performance, developed new product offerings, and optimized the contract logistics facilities in the region. His previous role at Agility was VP Sales for the Asia Pacific region, based out of Hong Kong where he was responsible for establishing & scaling the regional business development function.

Before joining Agility, Esa spent 13 years at Emirates Airline, based in Dubai doing various roles in Finance, Operations & Business Development.

Born & raised in India, Esa has spent the last 30 years crisscrossing the world with his family and currently lives in Basel, Switzerland. His personal interests include hiking, tennis, reading, spirituality & consciousness.

Fabien Annette Senior Vice President Business Integration Planning

Fabien joined WFS as Group FP&A Director in July 2016. He was then promoted to CFO EMEAA Cargo in June 2019. He has since been appointed to the new role of Senior Vice President Business Integration Planning in December 2022 in the context of the WFS acquisition by SATS.

Background & Experience

CFO, more than 25 years of professional experience, including 10 years in Big 4 Consulting (PriceWaterhouse Coopers and Deloitte), in international contexts of Investment Funds (LBO) and deep transformation (merger, acquisition, restructuring, change of shareholders, fund raising).

Hands-on Business Partner of General Management, Management Committee and Shareholders, contributing to the strategic thinking and alignment of actions to be implemented in support of Operations.

Implementation of business transformation and financial resources optimization, project and change management (Organization, Processes and Information Systems).

Leadership, interpersonal skills and ability to adapt in multicultural and international environments.

Valérie Marchand Battard Head of Corporate Communications

Valerie is responsible for WFS Group’s communication strategy, both to its global customers and the company’s 26,400 international employees, and all aspects of brand management. She was promoted to her current role in 2007 based at WFS’ global headquarters in Paris. 

As Head of Corporate Communication, Valerie leads the team that manages media relations, the Group’s online presence and social media channels, participation in worldwide industry events, and bespoke customer communications and events.

Valerie joined WFS in 2002 as Administration Manager of its international division. Earlier in her career, after two years working in the travel industry in New York, she spent two years as Event Manager with the Marriott Group.

Robin Harkness CFO

Robin is CFO of Europe, Middle East, Africa and Asia and is based in Amsterdam. He joined WFS in 2021 as Senior Vice President Finance and Commercial. Robin is a Chartered Accountant and brings 15 years of financial, operational and commercial role experience gained through working with a broad range of international B2B and B2C businesses. He previously worked for Cerberus Capital Management, Staples Solutions and Ernst & Young.

Sebastien Burnier Head of Operations & Transformation

In partnership with our global operations teams, Sebastien is responsible for creating the WFS Centre of Excellence to optimise and standardise the operational processes and tools in order to ensure the same level of service excellence is delivered across the entire WFS network.

Sébastien graduated from Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers de Paris in Electronics and Production Management. He started his career in quality and supply chain management, before moving to a range of operational leadership roles in the automative industry in France, Japan and Germany. After 10 years in the car industry, he joined Amazon as Senior Operations Manager. Most recently, he was Vice President Global Operations for Chassis Brakes International, a business unit of Hitachi.

David Kaplan Real Estate - Growth project (interim)

Thierry Giboulot VP HSSE

Thierry Giboulot is VP HSSE at WFS and is based in Paris. He leads Health, Safety, Security and Environmental performance across EMEAA region, providing central support to each country and developing strategies and plans to ensure WFS meets is goal of being “best in class”. He has engaged countries in building regional dashboards to monitor energy consumption, natural resources consumption and CO2 emissions to better manage Environmental Impacts of WFS operations. Thierry is a member of the Sustainability Committee of the Airport Services Association.

Before WFS, Thierry worked for 7 years in FedEx and 20 years in pharmaceutical companies as Safety & Environment expert

Jason Bixby CFO

Jason joined WFS from the Cerberus Operations & Advisory Company (COAC) where he has worked for the last 15 years.  While working with COAC, Jason was Chief Financial Officer at several Cerberus portfolio companies, including YP Print Media (yellow pages), NewPage (coated paper) and Coram Healthcare.  In addition, he has worked with the Cerberus Private Equity team and portfolio companies on many acquisition diligence, integration and operational improvement initiatives.  Prior to COAC, Jason held various leadership and finance roles in Medtronic and General Electric.

Rubens Pereira CEO of WFS Orbital - Brazil

Rubens Pereira Leitão Filho is the CEO of WFS Orbital, a leading Brazilian airport services company. He leads a highly skilled team, providing ground handling services at the major airports in Brazil. Under his guidance, the company delivers exceptional services to airlines and airport concessions.

With over 20 years of experience in the industry, including several years in leadership and business management positions, Rubens has a wealth of knowledge in the airport services sector. He holds a strong academic background, including MBAs in Finance and Business, bachelor’s degrees in Business, Marketing, and Information Systems, as well as specialized courses in these areas.

 As a dedicated and committed leader, Rubens has also served as a professor in post-graduate courses, speaker, and columnist. He has shared his expertise in management, finance, and civil aviation with private entities and prestigious universities in Brazil.

Barry Lagerstedt President Oxford Airport Technical Services

Barry Lagerstedt joined Oxford ATS in June 2020, having spent the past 20 years in Airport project management, business development and executive roles directly for Airports, Consultants and Technology service providers for Airport baggage systems & operations.  Barry has led Oxford through challenging transitions; developed the Oxford culture to maintain the high standards for our customers and has a keen focus on Oxford value proposition and strong long-term relationships in the Airport industry. Barry is a proud member of the integrated WFS management team and core support functions.  

Rodrigo M. Herrera VP Pinnacle Logistics

Liane Kelly SVP Administration

Liane Kelly has an extensive career in the aviation industry, having worked with commuter, national and charter airlines. While at ATA, she arranged ground handling and airport permits at many domestic and international airports which became the genesis of her ground handling background.

Her career in ground handling was fostered during her 17 years with Evergreen/EAGLE in Oregon and grew further after joining Integrated Airline Services, Inc. in 2008. Later IAS was acquired by Cargo Airport Services USA, LLC in 2013 which was subsequently acquired by Worldwide Flight Services in 2016, and where she is currently Sr. Vice President Administration, overseeing handling agreements, facility leases, airport relations and corporate matters.

Liane is a graduate of the University of California at Davis and holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology. She currently resides in Irving, TX.

John Hansen SVP IT

John is Senior Vice President, IT – North America based in Dallas, TX.  He joined WFS in 2022 from Navistar Defense where he served as Chief Information Officer (CIO).  John is an establish executive with 22 years of IT experience spanning multiple industries to include logistics, manufacturing and defense.  He brings an esblished track record building effective organizations and delivering digital transformation initiatives to WFS.

Emma Deane VP Business Development Asia, Middle East, Africa

Emma is responsible for developing WFS’ portfolio within the Africa, Middle East and Asia-Pacific region.  This includes entry to new markets through airport concessions and licences, partnerships, joint-ventures, and supporting M&A initiatives.  Emma is based in Dubai, where she has worked across Airport Operations, Lounges, Airline Catering and on-board Retail for the last 16 years.  Originally from Australia, Emma holds an honours in Law at the Australian National University, and Masters of Aviation Management from the University of New South Wales. Emma is also an active member of a number industry organisations supporting diversity in the Aviation and Logistics Industries.

Frank Clemente SVP Cargo

Frank Clemente joined WFS in 2016 based in Chicago IL. Frank brings 30 years’ in GHA operational experience, in Cargo and Ground handling. Frank started as Senior Vice President of Cargo North America. As of 2022, Frank has taken over the express operation in addition to his cargo responsibility. Prior to WFS Frank was the Chief operation Officer of Cargo for Swissport international.

Paul Walton SVP Ground Handling

Before joining WFS to lead the Express Business unit in 2020, Paul served as Menzies Aviation Senior Vice President of Sales and Commercial Operations for the Americas. He has held several positions in his tenure with Menzies Aviation in commercial and operational roles.  His career also include three years working with Swissport Cargo Services as Vice President of the West Region.

Paul started his early career working on the ramp in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania while attending university progressing through sales and general manager roles with Ogden Ground Services, which was sold to Menzies Aviation in 2000.  He graduated from Robert Morris University with a degree in Business Administration/Aviation Management.

Marc Claesen VP Commercial

Deep Sagoo VP Business Development Europe

Experienced professional with 30 years working in different industry sectors and finance/commercial roles. 12 years experience in cargo and ground handling, having held senior Finance positions in Menzies Aviation and dnata before joining WFS in 2017. Recently appointed VP Business Development Europe, following 5 years of regional CFO roles covering EMEAA Ground and then NEAA (Northern Europe, Africa & Asia).

John Dowds VP Service Delivery

John has over 25 years of experience in cargo in both airline and handling. Starting off with bmi at Heathrow, he served in multiple roles in Customer Services and Operations finishing as the Head of Operations when he left in 2012.   A 5 year stint in the Middle East followed with responsibility for the global handling function of Qatar Airways.  During a period of double digit growth year on year, he oversaw the introduction and expansion of the B777F fleet, an increase of +50 new stations and worked on the transition to the new Doha airport and Cargo Terminal in 2014. John has been with WFS since 2017 as Vice President for Service Delivery – EMEAA.

John Derry SVP Human Resources

Mark Berner SVP HSSE

Mr. Berner has worked in aviation for 30+ years, starting out on the ramp as a baggage handler, and filling a variety of leadership positions in ground and flight operations including 15+ years as the Part 119 Director of Safety for both a passenger and cargo FAR Part 121 airlines (and one Part 135 operator).  During this time Mr. Berner also flew  in airline operations as an Airline Transport Pilot type rated in CL65 (CRJ) and Boeing B737 aircraft in both passenger and freighter service.  Mr. Berner has a Bachelor of Science in Aviation Technology and Operations from Western Michigan University and completed the George Washington University certificate program in Aviation Safety and Security.

Helen Yu SVP Chief Legal Officer

Helen Yu is the Senior Vice President and Chief Legal Officer of Worldwide Flight Services, Inc., the world’s largest cargo handling company, with its global headquarter in Paris, France and U.S. headquarter in Dallas, Texas. Prior to WFS, Helen had the unique experience of representing first the airline and then the union. She was with American Airlines (on the management side) for 10 years in several capacities, including litigation, corporate transactions, and labor.  After AA, she joined Southwest Airlines Pilots Association as its General Counsel and Director of Diversity for 7 years, representing the nearly 10,000 pilots who fly for Southwest Airlines.

Helen started her career on the west coast.  She clerked under the Honorable Consuelo B. Marshall in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California in Los Angeles, before spending time in private practice at the law firm of Cooper, White & Cooper, and then as in-house counsel at Pacific Gas & Electric Company, both in San Francisco.

Helen has been a leader in several roles at work and in the community, and is a frequent speaker on legal, diversity, and leadership issues.  She has been recognized for her work in promoting diversity, including being a Champion of Diversity of the Dallas Business Journal and a Multi-Cultural Leader by the Texas Diversity Council.

Helen is from Taiwan and grew up in Queens, New York.  She received her J.D. from Northeastern University School of Law, and her undergraduate degree in Psychology from Boston University.  She lives in Grapevine with her husband and 3 children.  She enjoys writing, organic gardening, golfing, and rock climbing, but excels only at one of them.

Clare Liu Global Accounts Director Mainland China

Clare Liu has been working with WFS to lead developing Chinese market since 2003.  Clare focus on the business development with Chinese carriers and airports along the rapidly growing civil aviation market, establish and maintain good connections with the Chinese civil aviation industry to ensure WFS has a strong brand reputation.

About 30-year-experience in aviation, Clare has the breadth of knowledge of not only the industry, but also WFS’s policies, processes and procedures, and intimate familiarity with the business objectives of Chinese carriers both locally and abroad to identify, develop, and seize on opportunities to increase our business in the network.

José Canales SVP Commercial Americas

José Canales, is the Senior Vice President responsible for leading our commercial strategy and business development for the Americas region for both Cargo and Ground handling services. The region is composed of +97 airports stations in North America and a further 19 stations in South America (Brazil). He works closely with the international commercial team to ensure alignment with the Group’s accelerated growth plan.

He has over 25 years of success leading domestic and international supply chain management, logistics and Ground Handling operations in Asia, Latin America, and the United States. He served in a number of senior management positions at Swissport Ltd. and Panalpina Ltd. with a solid track record establishing operational excellence, driving successful turnarounds, and delivering sustainable, profitable growth for multi-country regions and strategic accounts. In October 2021 he joined Worldwide Flight Services and as of January 2023 he is under his current role.

José Canales holds a degree in International Trade from WCTC in the United States and graduated from Cranfield University – Cranfield School of Management in UK with a degree in Supply Chain Management.

Jeffrey Bounds SVP Operational Excellence & Business Performance

Jeffrey Bounds joined WFS in 2017 and is based in Dallas, TX.  Jeffrey brings 20 plus years of experience in Operations, Finance, M&A, Transition, and Integration Management. He has held several roles at WFS starting as Vice-President Operations Planning & Finance, was promoted in 2020 to Senior Vice President PMO, and in 2023 moved to the roll of Senior Vice President Operational Excellence & Business Performance. Prior to WFS, Jeffrey held Finance roles at McGraw-Hill Higher Education, United Airlines, FedEx Express and Operational & Engineering roles at Ford Motor Company and MacLean Fogg. Jeffrey holds an MBA in Finance from University of Indianapolis and a Mechanical Engineering Degree from Arkansas State University.

Rinzing Wangyal Business Development

Rinzing Wangyal is Vice President, Worldwide Flight Services, the world’s number 1 global operator in cargo handling. In this role, he is responsible for JFK operations, overseeing the development and implementation of the company’s cargo strategy, as well as managing relationships with key partners and stakeholders. He works closely with the team of industry experts to identify new growth opportunities and ensure that we are delivering world-class services to our customers.

Rinzing has over 25 years’ experience in the Project Management in the airline/aviation industry having worked for Gateway Services, Cargo Service Center, Swissport and Cargo Airport Services. A high-energy professional who leads companies through change and challenge to profitable growth. Skilled in Negotiation, Operations Management, Customer Service, Freight, and Business Process Improvement. Strategic problem solver who envisions small solutions and executes with urgency across all levels of the organization. Outstanding strategist with a track record of success in highly competitive business markets.

Throughout his career, he has been recognized for his leadership skills, strategic vision, and ability to execute complex projects. He holds a bachelor’s degree in political science and is a member of several professional organizations in the cargo industry.

In his free time, he enjoys traveling, reading, music and spending time with my family. He is committed to giving back to his community and regularly volunteer with local charities and organizations.

Patricia Aliperti Head of Commercial - Brazil

Patricia is the head of the Commercial department for WFS/Orbital Brazil.

As head of commercial she leads the team that manage the sales of all ground handling, security and cargo business, as well overseeing marketing development post sale operations. She is based at WFS/Orbital, head office in Guarulhos/São Paulo.

Patricia joined the company in 2008 where she worked in operations. After 6 months she was invited to headquarters where she acted as lead Personal Assistant for the company’s executive presidents. In 2012 she moved into commercial management and became head of commercial in 2018.

She holds an MBA in business administration and a specialization in Chief Mkt officer from FGV.

Assaad Sfeir Global Account Director

Assaad Sfeir joined WFS as Global Account Director in February 2023.

Assaad first joined WFS in April 1990 and spent close to 30 years in operational and management roles in both France and Germany, working up to VP Global Sales & Business Development. From 2018 to 2023 he worked as a consultant in various handling companies, helping them to explore new opportunities and enhance their sales strategies. His excellent commercial track record and extensive operational knowledge make Assaad a key asset for WFS. He is our point of contact for customers from the Middle Eastern region.

Assaad is fluent in Arabic, English, French and German, and has a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) in Economics from the Université de Saint-Joseph in Beirut, Lebanon.