CWT has named Dale Eastlund vice president, supply chain partners.

A 20-year veteran of the company, Eastlund will oversee the strategy and commercial relationships with supply chain partners. 

He reports to Vincent Chirico, senior vice president, global supply chain partners.

In his new role, Eastlund and his team will work closely with online booking tools and other third-party platforms to further enhance the online booking experience for travellers and travel managers.

“We are incredibly pleased to have Dale at the helm of CWT’s supply chain partners’ strategy, which will benefit greatly from his experience in the industry and his extensive knowledge of the company,” said Chirico.

“Online booking tools are becoming increasingly important as more customers are choosing to book online, globally.

“Our online booking tools partners book more transactions than all other channels combined.

“By strengthening our content aggregator partnerships, Dale and his team will ensure that clients will have access to all relevant content, which, in turn, will lead to a virtuous cycle of greater online adoption.”

Prior to his new role, Eastlund’s laid the groundwork for CWT’s strategy to effectively respond to the challenges and opportunities of the airline industry’s new distribution capability, in his role as senior director for third party aggregators and, prior to that, senior director for online booking tools.

Eastlund began his career in the pricing area at Northwest Airlines.

He holds an MBA from the University of Minnesota Carlson School of Management.