ANA Appoints New Head of the Americas

LOS ANGELES, March 30, 2015 – All Nippon Airways Co., Ltd. (ANA) has named Hideki Kunugi to the post of Senior Vice President, the Americas, effective April 1, 2015. Holding the highest executive position in the U.S., Kunugi will lead a team of more than 200 staff, responsible for all marketing, sales, airport operations, reservations and cargo services for the airline. Previously, Kunugi was the Vice President of Purchasing for ANA.

“Hideki Kunugi has been an integral part of the success of ANA worldwide,” said Mr. Osamu Shinobe, President & CEO, ANA. “While working in procurement, he drove the introduction of the Boeing 787 Dreamliner and established ANA as the first and biggest operator of the state-of-the-art aircraft. As head of the Americas, we are confident that Kunugi-san will lead ANA to new growth, and greater customer satisfaction.”

Always pushing innovative reforms, during his tenure at ANA, Kunugi was also part of the team that first opened relations with United Airlines and Lufthansa to begin code sharing agreements. He also restructured the procurement process for the entire airline, implementing a standardized and streamlined system to increase quality control to new heights.

Hideki Kunugi is Senior Vice President, The Americas for ANA and, as the highest executive in the U.S., is responsible for all marketing, sales, airport operations, reservations and cargo services. This represents a team of over 200 staff in the U.S.

Prior to entering his current post in April 2015, Kunugi spent three years as the Vice President of Purchasing. During his time in this position, he successfully executed the largest aircraft order in ANA history for 70 aircraft, followed by an order for an additional 15 aircraft less than a year later, in order to modernize and expand its fleet with new, cutting-edge products including Japan’s first 777X. He also took the initiative to completely restructure the procurement process for the entire airline, implementing a standardized and streamlined system. The model introduced by Kunugi simultaneously made ANA more efficient and cost effective, and increased quality control to new heights.

Kunugi’s past experience includes being a part of the team that first opened relations with United Airlines and Lufthansa to begin code sharing agreements from ’97 to ’02, and a leading role at Marketing & Sales from ’04 to ’07. Kunugi was already setting a trend for innovative procedure reform at these earlier positions, where his contributions included making the first ties for global alliances and restructuring the sales forces of Tokyo, Osaka and Nagoya, resulting in lower cost and higher standards for specialization and service quality.

Kunugi graduated from the Law Department of Waseda University in 1983. He enjoys a wide range of hobbies including art, especially paintings and porcelain (Arita-yaki), classical music and model trains. After seeing his two sons enter university in Japan, he has taken up his current post in New York with his wife.