As new VP for Airlines, industry veteran Howard Blankenship is responsible for developing and executing winning sales strategies aimed at carriers in the region
CellPoint Mobile, a leading global provider of sales and payment-side mobile technology solutions for the airline and travel sectors, welcomes Howard Blankenship to its executive team as VP of Airlines in the Americas region. Operating from the company’s Dallas location, Howard will provide strategic sales and revenue development in North America, Latin America and the Caribbean markets.
“Howard has a proven track record helping airlines grow revenue in the mobile channel, experience he will now apply to our sales operations in the Americas,” said Noel Connolly, SVP and Global Head of Sales for Airlines and Hospitality for CellPoint Mobile. “Having Howard join our team is important not only for our Americas growth strategy, but also to airlines serving the Americas, helping them grow their revenue and mobile capabilities.”
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Prior to joining CellPoint Mobile, Howard spent over 15 years at Sabre Airline Solutions as a Senior Solution Partner supporting large and complex airlines in multi-million-dollar long-term deals. Howard has global leadership, technology and industry experience in Sales & Customer Management organizations. He has also held key positions across Product Management, Marketing, Solutions Delivery and Operations.
Recently, Howard held a Senior Director of Sales at NAVBLUE, an Airbus company. He supported the Tier 1 market by providing aviation services with data-based solutions and leading them in their digital transformation. At CellPoint Mobile, Howard will leverage this extensive experience to oversee all new sales and existing revenue opportunities in the Americas – one of the world’s biggest and most complex airline IT environments.
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Supporting Airline Revenue in a Mobile-First Environment
Howard’s deep experience and understanding of carrier pain points will help CellPoint Mobile introduce these solutions to airlines in the Americas, and in the process help airlines grow their bottom line while improving the passenger and user experience.
“CellPoint Mobile has built a strong presence in the Americas region and I’m looking forward to applying my domain expertise and long-standing relationships to promote the company’s mobile-first solutions for airlines,” said Howard Blankenship. “More carriers are investing in solutions that optimize transaction flows and booking experiences, support local and regional APMs and ‘bridge the gap’ between cash and the mobile economy across the Americas – and these are the areas where CellPoint Mobile excels.”
The mobile channel is increasingly important in countries and markets that make up the Americas – more than half (60%) of travel-related searches begin from mobile devices, and 90% of travelers using mobile devices will switch to another site or app if their needs for a frictionless travel booking process are not being met. CellPoint Mobile helps airlines meet these expectations with a full suite of mobile-first solutions, including Voyage, a high performance and front-end agnostic booking engine, and Velocity, a highly scalable, robust payment platform designed to increase conversions in the direct channel.
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