Virgin Atlantic Cargo has appointed Steve Buckerfield as vice president sales, to be based at Virgin’s headquarters near London Gatwick Airport.
He will lead the airline’s global sales team and be responsible for sales across its international network.
Prior to joining Virgin Atlantic, Buckerfield spent three years as managing director, UK & Ireland, at Toll Global Forwarding.
As well as offering 27% of transatlantic cargo capacity and services to 12 major cities across North America, Virgin offers customers a choice of destinations in India, South Africa, Dubai, Hong Kong and China, Nigeria and the Caribbean.
It also sells the international long-haul cargo capacity of Virgin Australia and offers customers onward interline connections to 500 destinations globally, as well as trucking services to over 50 cities in Europe.
John Lloyd, senior vice president, cargo at Virgin Atlantic, said that Buckerfield brings “a great understanding of both the transatlantic market and the forwarding industry”.
Looking ahead, Buckerfield observed: “During my career, I have been a competitor of Virgin Atlantic Cargo and a customer and I fully appreciate the power and value of the airline’s passion for customer service.
“That is particularly important in such a competitive air cargo market because while rates and yields get the headlines, customers more than ever want to work with partners they trust to be reliable.”
Buckerfield started his career with Emery Worldwide in 1984, becoming southern area sales manager before moving into the airline cargo industry with American Airlines in 1990.
He spent 14 years with the airline, ultimately holding the post of managing director Europe. In 2004, he was appointed managing director of Walker Freight Services and later C.H. Robinson Worldwide (UK) following its acquisition of Walker in 2009. He then joined Toll.
