American Airlines, a major American airline headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas announced the promotion of Patrick O’Keeffe from vice president – information technology to senior vice president – people, from June 1. He has held many leadership positions during his more than 28 years at American Airlines.
In his new role, O’Keeffe will lead the worldwide human resources team responsible for talent acquisition and development, team member training and support, compensation, benefits, and diversity. He will report to Elise Eberwein, executive vice president – people and communications, American Airlines. He replaces the airline’s earlier senior vice president – people, Danielle Kirgan.
“There is no work more important to American’s future than the work underway to build a culture that supports our frontline team, and there’s no better leader at American who embodies the right skills to lead this work than Patrick,” said Eberwein. “Our mission at American is simple and starts with serving our frontline coworkers so that they approach every day with the tools and training needed to serve our customers and the enthusiasm and energy to connect with people. Patrick is a team builder who considers all viewpoints, and he has a proven track record of leading multi-departmental teams to successfully complete very complex projects. He has a tremendous heart for the people of American, is a champion for equality, and shares our goal to create an environment where caring for our frontline colleagues is part of every leader’s DNA.”
O’Keeffe began his career at American Airlines in the market planning department and then headed leadership roles in several departments including sales planning, customer research, onboard service, and food and beverage. He moved to the IT team in 2004 with roles in customer technology and revenue and planning technology after 16 years of experience on the commercial side of American. In his most recent role, O’Keeffe was responsible for an industry-leading integration of the passenger service system as well as the corporate technology teams for revenue management, network planning, operations research, alliances, regionals, human resources, payroll and finance.
O’Keeffe holds a Bachelor degree in Business Administration in Accounting from Limerick University, Ireland and completed his Master of Business Administration at Rice University, United States. O’Keeffe is an executive sponsor for PRIDE – American’s Employee Business Resource Group for LGBT team members, and is the executive sponsor of ADEPT – a programme designed to bring in talented and diverse technologists. He serves in community organisations, including the Human Rights Campaign, and also the board of directors for the American Airlines Credit Union.
