Management

David Gary Neeleman, a dual Brazilian and U.S. citizen, is the founder and Chairman of Azul’s board of directors. Prior to Azul, Mr. Neeleman founded JetBlue, where he held the position of Chief Executive Officer from 1998 to 2007 and Chairman of the board of directors from 2002 to 2008. Mr. Neeleman’s career in the airline industry began in 1984 when he co-founded Morris Air. As president of Morris Air, he implemented the industry’s first electronic ticketing system and pioneered a home reservationist system that is now the foundation of JetBlue’s call center. Mr. Neeleman sold Morris Air in and took the electronic ticketing to Open Skies. He sold Open Skies to Hewlett Packard in 1999. Mr. Neeleman was also co-founder of WestJet Airlines and served as a member of its board of directors from 1996 to 1999. Mr. Neeleman is also part of a consortium that acquired an equity interest in TAP through TAP’s privatization process in 2015 and is currently a member of the board of directors of TAP.

Carolyn Trabuco has been an independent member of our board of directors since March 10, 2008. Ms. Trabuco is founder of Thistledown Advisory Group, LLC, a sustainable finance and corporate strategy firm in Connecticut. Prior to Thistledown she was a Managing Director at Cornerstone Capital Group, Inc., a sustainable finance focused research and advisory firm in New York City where she published research on pre-financial corporate performance indicators based on the environment, social and governance practices of global resources companies. Before joining Cornerstone Ms. Trabuco was a Senior Vice President at Astenbeck Capital Management, LLC and Phibro Trading, LLC from 2009 until 2014 where she was responsible for global oil and gas commodity and equity analysis. From 2002-2009 she worked at Pequot Capital Management as a senior equity research analyst focused on the global resources sector and the Latin American region specializing in Brazil. Ms. Trabuco has worked in the financial services industry for over 20 years and has been involved with Azul since its foundation in 2008. Ms. Trabuco holds a bachelor’s degree in art history from Georgetown University.

Decio Luiz Chieppe has been an independent member of our board of directors since August 15, 2012. He is also an Executive Officer for Administration and Finance at Grupo Águia Branca and a member of the board of directors of Vix Logistica S.A. During his career, Mr. Chieppe has held leadership positions at all Grupo Águia Branca companies, including as an executive officer for finance and administration from 1993 through the present day and as the chief executive officer of certain Grupo Águia Branca companies from 1978 to 1993. Mr. Chieppe holds a degree in business administration from the Universidade Federal do Espírito Santo and na executive master’s degree in business administration in finance from IBMEC, a private Brazilian university. He also completed na executive skills, tools and competencies program (STC), at the J.L. Kellogg Graduate School of Management.

Gelson Pizzirani has been an independent member of our board of directors since April 30, 2012. Mr. Pizzirani was a VP of Revenue Management and Fleet Planning at Tam Linhas Aéreas S.A. from 2002 to 2007. Before joining Tam Linhas Aéreas S.A., he held several management positions with different IT companies. Mr. Pizzirani holds a bachelor’s degree in mathematics from the Universidade do Santo André and a master’s degree in strategic management and information technology from Fundação Getúlio Vargas.

Gilberto Peralta has been a member of our board of directors since August 24, 2018. With more than 35 years of experience in the aviation sector, Mr. Peralta has led several businesses within General Electric, including CEO of GE Brazil, General Manager of GE Capital Aviation Services, and Vice President at GE Aviation. He has lived and worked in Brazil, the United States and Europe and holds a bachelor’s degree in Civil and Mechanical Engineering from the Catholic University of Petropolis.

John Ray Gebo has been an independent member of our board of directors since January 28, 2016. Mr. Gebo is Senior Vice President of Alliances for United. Mr. Gebo joined United in 2000 and has held several positions of increasing responsibility including Senior Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis, Managing Director of Revenue Divisions Finance, Managing Director of Corporate Financial Planning, and Head of Investor Relations. Prior to joining United, Mr. Gebo worked at General Motors Corporation in manufacturing engineering. Mr. Gebo currently serves on the board of directors of Copa Holdings, S.A. He received his bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Texas and his master’s degree in business administration from the University of Michigan.

José Mario Caprioli dos Santos has been a member of our board of directors since August 15, 2012. Mr. Caprioli was our Chief Operating Officer from August 15, 2012 to February 18, 2014 and he was also our Institutional Relations Officer from February 18, 2014 to March 9, 2020. Mr. Caprioli was the founder of TRIP, where he served as the Chief Executive Officer from 1998 until February 2013. Mr. Caprioli holds a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas. He also attended a specialization course on public transportation at Universidade de Campinas and a capital markets program at Columbia University.

Michael Lazarus has been an independent member of our board of directors since February 20, 2013. Mr. Lazarus co-founded Weston Presidio, a private equity firm focused on growth companies, in 1991 and currently serves as one of its Managing Partners. Mr. Lazarus is also a founding partner of Main Post Partners, a San Francisco based growth equity fund. Prior to the formation of Weston Presidio, he served as Managing Director and Director of the Private Placement Department of Montgomery Securities. He was previously the founding Chairman of JetBlue and served on the board of directors for the airline as well as on the boards of directors for Restoration Hardware, Morris Air, Guitar Center, Fender Musical Instrument Corp., Integro, Jimmy John’s LLC, and numerous privately held companies. Michael graduated with a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Grove City College and he is a certified public accountant in the United States.

Renan Chieppe has been an independent member of our board of directors since August 15, 2012 and General Executive Officer of Grupo Águia Branca’s passenger transportation unit since 1994. Mr. Chieppe joined Grupo Águia Branca in 1980. He is also a member of the board of directors of VIX Logística. Mr. Chieppe also served as chairman of the board of TRIP from 2008 to 2012. In 2001, he was elected president of the Espírito Santo State Passenger Transportation Trade Association (Sindicato de Transportes de Passageiros do Estado do Espírito Santo), a position he held for two consecutive terms. Mr. Chieppe holds a degree in business administration from Faculdades Integradas Espírito-Santenses.

Sergio Eraldo de Salles Pinto has been an independent member of our board of directors since March 10, 2008. He is the Chief Executive Officer of the Bozano Group. Mr. Salles is also a current board member of Embraer, Ouro Preto Óleo e Gás, Votorantim S.A. and Chief Executive Officer of Bozano Investimentos. In addition to holding these positions, Mr. Salles served as a borad member of Netpoints, Executive Director of Banco Bozano, Simonsen S.A and was Chairman of Bozano Simonsen Securities of London. Mr. Salles holds a bachelor’s degree in economics from Centro de Ensino Unificado de Brasília and electrical engineering from Universidade de Brasília, a master’s degree in economics from Fundação Getúlio Vargas do Rio de Janeiro, and a master’s degree in business administration from Pontifícia Universidade Católica do Rio de Janeiro.

John Peter Rodgerson is our Chief Executive Officer. Prior to that, Mr. Rodgerson was our Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer, responsible for the Planning and Financial Analysis, Treasury and Accounting departments. Mr. Rodgerson worked on Azul’s initial business plan for Azul’s launch with David Neeleman and was part of the founding team. Prior to joining Azul, Mr. Rodgerson served as Director of Planning and Financial Analysis at JetBlue from 2003 to 2008. Before JetBlue, he worked for IBM Global Services from 2001 to 2003. Mr. Rodgerson holds a bachelor’s degree in Finance from Brigham Young University.

Alexandre Wagner Malfitani is our Chief Financial Officer and Investor Relations Officer. Prior to that, Mr. Malfitani held several positions at Azul, including the position of Head of Azul’s loyalty program, TudoAzul, Director of Finance and Treasurer. Mr. Malfitani joined Azul as part of the founding team that launched the airline in 2008. Before that, Mr. Malfitani worked at United Airlines in Chicago, where he last held the position of Managing Director of Treasury. He also worked for five years in the banking industry, as fund manager at Deutsche Bank and proprietary trader at Credit Agricole Indosuez. He has an engineering degree from Escola Politécnica at the University of Sao Paulo, an MBA with honors from the Kellogg School of Management, and is a CFA (Chartered Financial Analyst) charter.

Antonio Flávio Torres Martins Costa has been part of the Azul founding team since inception and has more than 40 years of experience in the airline industry, having served as Technical and Operations Director at Pluna S.A., and OceanAir and as Technical Director at Varig.

Abhi Manoj Shah is our Chief Revenue Officer and one of the founding members of Azul. Prior to joining Azul in 2008, Mr. Shah worked at JetBlue from 2004 to 2008 and at the Boeing Company from 2000 to 2004. Mr. Shah holds a bachelor’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas and a master’s degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Washington.