Apple Hires United Continental CFO as VP of Sales

AllThingsD reports that Zane Rowe, executive VP and Chief Financial Officer for United Continental -- the company behind the merged United and Continental airlines -- has joined Apple as one of the vice presidents of sales at Apple.

“We are thrilled that Zane Rowe will be joining us as one of our vice presidents of sales,” Apple spokesman Steve Dowling told AllThingsD. “He built a great team at United and we think he is going to do a fantastic job at Apple.”

United Continental Holdings President and CEO Jeff Smisek said the company was "sorry Zane has decided to leave." Mr. Zane had worked for Continental Airlines since 1993.

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jontech

80 months ago

This means that if you order your Apple early enough it will cost less.

If you wait till they only have two in stock you will pay double!

Rating: 5 Votes

Laird Knox

80 months ago

Apple will be moving away from the traditional brick and mortar shops. The future will be a fleet of Apple stores that fly to where they are needed most.

Rating: 4 Votes

*LTD*

80 months ago

Tim Cook isn't stupid. That's all you need to know for now.

Rating: 3 Votes

noisycats

80 months ago

Clearly the next big thing is not the iTV, but some form of personal air travel. Perhaps the iAir or the iPlane.

Gentlemen, start your jet packs!
;)

Rating: 2 Votes

deannnnn

80 months ago

Yeah because obviously his work revitalizing United & Continental is done :rolleyes:

Rating: 2 Votes

Ccrew

80 months ago

Well this ought to be interesting, as hires go. Surely this person has sales experience in the airline business, but how could this benefit Apple? I don't see a direct benefit, since Apple does not offer air service. The closest thing they have is AirPort, but even that branding is going by the wayside.

They now have someone running sales that knows how to charge extra for everything :)

Rating: 2 Votes

habubauza

80 months ago

As someone who travels on the US airlines at least 50 times a year, I can say that it is one of the most horrific experiences one can imagine. From security to disgustingly obnoxious flight attendants, poor schedules and the nickel and diming you to death, the US airlines by far offers one of worst modes of travel available today.

I would take Virgin, Singapore, Malaysian, even Lufthansa over any of the US airlines when traveling internationally. The US airline industry of today is an embarrassment and they should all be ashamed of themselves. The fact that Apple would tap an executive from this industry is nothing short of curious to me.

Rating: 1 Votes

danielchow

80 months ago

i'm thinking he was probably hired for his expertise in finances, and logistics.

Rating: 1 Votes

whistler222

80 months ago

A corporate CFO is not a beancounter.. FAR FAR from it.

A CFO at that level is all about corporate strategy, level 1 policy deployment stuff. Those guys can move from Sales to Marketing to Logistics to Finance and not miss a beat.. He's not the ONLY VP of sales is he?

People are ignorant if you think CFO = accountant, VP of sales = an apple store sales clerk.

There'll be other VP of sales that handles promotions.. his job probably is more focused on strategy, acquisition integration as it relates to sales etc

Rating: 1 Votes