New Orleans Airport Executive Bennett-Holmes Featured in 

Airport Business Magazine’s Top 40 Under 40

Also Elected as Chair of International Air Service Committee

 

NEW ORLEANS – Airport Business Magazine announced yesterday that Kristina Bennett-Holmes, Deputy Director of Aviation – Commercial Development for Louis Armstrong New Orleans International Airport (MSY), was selected as one of the top 40 aviation professionals under 40. This award, established by the magazine in 2012, features leading young individuals who have shown initiative in their field and have made an impact on the aviation industry.

 

Link: Click here to see Kristina Bennett-Holmes’ Top 40 Under 40 feature.

 

Additionally, Bennett-Holmes was recently elected as chair of ACI-NA’s U.S. International Air Service Program where she will lead their forum for U.S. Airports interested in international air service and promote the common interests of participating U.S. airports. The program focuses on development of international air services to U.S. communities and provides essential access to the negotiating table allowing U.S. airports to promote their interests with U.S. and foreign decision makers.

 

“Kristina Bennett-Holmes is definitely a rising star in the aviation industry,” said Kevin Dolliole, Director of Aviation. “I get to experience her outstanding attributes of leadership, teamwork, creativity and intelligence through day-to-day interactions with both internal and external stakeholders. I’m thrilled to see her recognized by Airport Business Magazine.”

 

Bennett-Holmes has served at MSY since 2014, working in air service, commercial and business development. During her tenure, she successfully recruited over 50 new flights and 9 new airlines, including nonstop service to London, England with British Airways and Frankfurt, Germany with Condor Airlines—reconnecting this region to Europe for the first time since the 1980s. Her efforts contributed to MSY achieving record-breaking passenger totals for five consecutive years from 2015 through 2019.

 

Most recently, Ms. Bennett-Holmes recruited the newly established airline, Breeze Airways. With her leading negotiations, Breeze Airways not only selected MSY as part of its initial slate of destinations, but also as one of four main operations bases for the airline. Breeze launched service to 10 destinations, and will make a capital investment of $6.6 million at MSY, creating 261 new direct jobs.

 

As the region recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, Bennett-Holmes remains focused on retaining both domestic and international air service while actively pursuing new opportunities for the New Orleans market as they become available.

 

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