Aviation industry veteran, Wrenelle Stander, has been appointed executive in charge of Comair’s airlines division, the company’s ceo, Erik Venter announced on Wednesday, September 26.
From the beginning of November, Stander will lead Comair’s two airline brands, kulula.com and British Airways, which Comair operates regionally as part of a licence agreement.
Under Comair’s new structure, the group also has executives heading its other business units:hospitality and tourism, aviation training, and Nacelle IT solutions.
Stander has 25 years’ experience in the aviation and energy industries, 15 of them at executive leadership level. Her previous posts include that of md of the Air Traffic and Navigation Services (ATNS), one of three women worldwide to head an air navigation services company. She was also deputy ceo of the South African Civil Aviation Authority (SACAA) and director general at the Department of Transport.
More recently Stander has held senior roles at Sasol, amongst others serving as md of Sasol Gas, where she ensured the completion of the Mozambique pipeline expansion project and spearheaded the process to transition natural gas customers to a new pricing dispensation. In her current role of senior vp of Corporate Affairs, she was instrumental in a multi-year process of engaging on air quality with multiple stakeholders, including government, the Minister of Environmental Affairs, the Environment Portfolio Committee, NGOs, communities and the media.
She also has extensive board experience at Comair, having previously served as an independent, non-executive director from 2008 to 2016. Currently she serves as a director of the Sishen Iron Ore Company Pty Ltd, as well as on the board of Christel House, an education NGO.
