American Express has announced Charles Petruccelli, president, global business travel will be retiring on December 31st after 36 years of service with the company.

Petruccelli led the Global Business Travel division for ten years through momentous change and turmoil for the industry that included the events of September 11th, 2001; the SARS outbreak; the shift to online and zero airline commissions; the emergence of airline and hotel alliances; wars in Iraq and Afghanistan; and the global financial crisis and economic recession.

“Without question, Charles has had a great impact on the company and, indeed, the entire travel industry during his career,” said Kenneth Chenault, chairman and chief executive officer, American Express in a company memo.

“For the last ten years as president of global travel services, Charles has led his teams to set industry standards for innovation and service, using advances in technology to transform the way we meet the changing needs and preferences of our customers and clients.

“There is not a year that goes by that the travel industry is not hit – often disproportionately – by major crises, whether it is natural disasters, acts of terrorism or economic turmoil.

“But it is a true testament to Charles’ steady and thoughtful leadership that we’ve been able to weather whatever crisis we are facing and maintain our leadership position.”

Before taking the helm of Business Travel globally, Petruccelli led corporate services international where he had responsibility for corporate card, business travel, consumer travel and foreign exchange services for all markets outside of the United States.

In this role, he led and oversaw acquisitions including Thomas Cook in multiple EMEA markets, Havas Voyages in France and Nyman & Schultz in the Nordics.