Living with COVID-19: Update on Business Travel

Event Details

Following our first webinar on business travel as part of our 'Living with COVID-19' series, the commercial aviation industry has continued to be one of the most affected by the global COVID-19 pandemic. Continued travel restrictions have taken a toll on the sector even as experts predict an eventual rebound from pent-up demand, especially with the gradual roll-out of vaccines.

The Singapore government continues to be in negotiations with Vietnam, Thailand and France to establish potential travel lanes (current reciprocal travel lanes include Brunei Darussalam, Germany, parts of Mainland China, Japan, Malaysia, and Republic of Korea), while the ASEAN Secretariat has been urged to set up a regional air travel bubble to restore ASEAN's aviation and travel sectors.

Join us at AmCham as we discuss the future of aviation in a COVID-19 world, and its broader impact on our business community.

For any enquires please contact the AmCham Programming and Events Team.

Speakers

Sanghamitra Bose

General Manager Singapore, Hong Kong and Thailand at American Express Global Business Travel

John Bruns

Vice President, Commercial Sales & Marketing, India & Southeast Asia at Boeing Singapore

Conrad Clifford

(Moderator) Regional Vice President, Asia Pacific at International Air Transport Association (IATA)

James Marshall

Vice President, Account Management, Air at Expedia Group

Joanna Patterson

Sales Director, Southeast Asia of United Airlines Singapore

Sanghamitra is a Senior Business Executive with strong experience across Business Travel, Finance and Hospitality. A proven business leader, she has been successful in establishing the vision and strategy needed to grow business relationships across the region.

She joined American Express in 2003 as part of the Global Corporate Payments business in India to manage key accounts and drive new sales.

In 2006, Sanghamitra moved to Singapore as Client General Manager in American Express Global Business Travel. She led the customer relationship organisation for ASEAN Markets before moving on to head the global client relationship team in Asia Pacific as Director Global Client Group APAC.

In 2017, Sanghamitra assumed the role of General Manager of Singapore and Thailand, adding Hong Kong to this remit in 2020. Sanghamitra drives the strategy and business growth for the three countries. She is responsible for the financial performance as well as key customer partnerships driven out of these countries.

Prior to joining American Express, she worked in leading hospitality organisations like Taj Hotels, and Intercontinental Hotel Group, for ten years in leadership roles. She also developed and managed a business school program in China, affiliated to James Cooke University, Australia.

Sanghamitra holds a Masters in Business Administration and a Mathematics Honours degree from Maharaja Sayajirao University, India.

She has been awarded the Kim Vismale Global Leadership Excellence Award in 2014, in recognition of her contribution in developing, mentoring and providing leadership in her various roles in American Express.

John Bruns was named Boeing Commercial Sales & Marketing vice president for India & Southeast Asia in February 2019. He is responsible for the Boeing business relationships with airline customers in India and the Southeast Asia region and for the sale of commercial airplanes and services to customers in those markets.

He previously served as president of Boeing China, leading companywide activities in-country including government affairs and supporting the implementation of Boeing’s China strategy. Before that he was Boeing Commercial Airplanes senior sales director for Northeast Asia and has more than 25 years of experience in the Chinese aviation market.

Bruns joined McDonnell Douglas in 1986 and worked in Engineering Test & Evaluation. In 1990, he was assigned to the McDonnell Douglas China Program Office in Long Beach and then moved to Beijing in 1994 as deputy to the president of McDonnell Douglas–China. Following the merger of Boeing and McDonnell Douglas in 1997, Bruns joined the Boeing Commercial Airplanes Sales organization and led numerous successful airplane sales campaigns with Chinese airlines and leasing companies.

Bruns grew up in Asia and speaks Mandarin. He graduated with a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering and a Bachelor of Arts degree in East Asian studies from Bucknell University, Pennsylvania. In 1991, he earned a Master of Business Administration degree with an international business emphasis at the Drucker School of Management, Claremont Graduate University, California.

Conrad Clifford is the Regional Vice President for Asia Pacific at the International Air Transport Association (IATA). Conrad is responsible for IATA’s activities across the Asia Pacific region, focusing on serving the regions airline members’ and stakeholders’ needs. He joined IATA on 1 February 2014.

Prior to joining IATA, Conrad had a career in aviation spanning almost 40 years. He has CEO’d a start-up, a domestic, a regional and an international carrier. He has an intimate knowledge of top brand carriers having worked for Cathay Pacific, Virgin Atlantic and Emirates.

Conrad has lived and worked in Asia, Africa, and Europe and has a broad and in-depth knowledge of strategy and business planning, pricing and revenue management and airport operations.

Conrad, a British national, graduated from Cambridge University. He holds an MBA from Durham University Business School.

James Marshall serves as Vice President, Account Management - Air, for the Expedia Group, one of the world’s largest travel companies, operating more than 200 travel booking sites in more than 75 countries.

In this role James leads the global key account management team, responsible for the airline partner relationships and supports the marketing and distribution of flights and holiday packages globally on a wide portfolio of Expedia’s online travel brands, like Expedia, Hotels.com, Hotwire, Travelocity, Orbitz, ebookers, Wotif and as well as its corporate travel brand Egencia. He also leads Expedia Group’s air revenue operations team.

James joined Expedia in 2010 after ten years in a variety of roles with Amadeus It Group.

James holds an MBA from INSEAD. He also graduated from ESCP Europe where he earned a master’s degree in international management. James maintains triple citizenship from Spain, France and the UK and has lived in Asia for over 25 years. He currently resides in Singapore with his wife and two daughters.

Joanna Patterson joined United Airlines at the end of 2019 as Sales Director, Southeast Asia, based in Singapore. She leads the sales activities of United’s online markets for Singapore and the Philippines, as well as the offline sales territory in the Southeast Asia region. Joanna is responsible for United’s strategic growth in the market, which also includes managing the APAC headquarters and regional relationship of United’s Global Travel Management Companies.

Joanna has over 20 years’ rich experience in the airline and business travel industry, as well as a good understanding of Asia having lived in Shanghai for 3 years before moving to Singapore 5 years ago.

Her career spans senior management and sales positions in China, Germany, United Kingdom, Switzerland and Singapore. Prior to joining United Airlines Joanna worked for FCM Travel Solutions (Singapore) where she served as Director of Account Management for Asia. Before that, she was a key player in growing global sales for major Chinese and European airlines: China Eastern, Air France KLM, Lufthansa and BMI.

Her passion for the airline industry has been the driver of her whole carrier. It has enabled her to grow and develop strong multi-cultural teams around the world, build long lasting relationships across the travel industry and with corporate clients, as well as being a mentor to many colleagues.

During her free time Joanna’s hobbies are travelling, cycling, photography and especially scuba diving.

AmCham Member

Employees in member company and part of the membership roster

Member PriceComplimentary

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Employees in member company but not in the membership roster

Standard PriceComplimentary

Non-Member

Attendees that are not part of a member company and/or the membership roster

Standard PriceS$18

Organizers

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The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore

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