Loretta Kuss

Background

About Loretta Kuss

I have 25+ years of sales and marketing experience in the airline industry, most recently serving as the Regional Director of Passenger Sales for American Airlines in Chicago. My primary mission was leading a team of 25+ sales professionals responsible for growing the business by increasing revenue and market share from contracted corporate clients and travel agency partners. This position provided me with the opportunity to build and lead a high-performing team and nurture a customer-centric culture, negotiate large contracts, develop and execute strategic plans, direct sales promotions and community engagement activities and manage P&L. Prior to moving to Chicago I held a variety of leadership roles of increasing responsibility: Regional Sales Director for the Midwest Region responsible for American’s St. Louis hub; Global Sales Manager in Dallas/Ft. Worth where I managed and strengthened relationships with eight global corporate customers generating in excess of $150 million in annual AA revenue; and as District Sales Manager for Northern California, I led a team of seven Account Managers in a competitive hub to increase AA’s market share and presence in the community. Throughout my career, I represented American Airlines in local communities, attending charity events that included public speaking engagements. Besides the challenges around growing the business, the most rewarding aspects of my career at American Airlines has been building and leading high-performing, empowered teams through mentoring, coaching and feedback and development planning. Specialties: Airline Industry | Team Building | P&L Management | Leadership Development | Coaching Mentoring | Change Management | Competitive Analysis | Strategic Planning | Advocacy Global Sales | Sales and Marketing | Business Development | Relationship Building Account Management | Negotiating | Customer Relations | Sales Promotions Community Sponsorships