American Airlines Cargo has announced the appointment of Sam Mendenhall to Vice President, Operations. The appointment follows the retirement of former Operations leader David Vance after an impressive 34-year career at American Airlines.

Mendenhall joins the cargo team with 22 years of experience at American, where he most recently led the organization responsible for all Crew Scheduling at the American Integrated Operations Center.

“David is leaving an incredible legacy for the Cargo team, as well as American as a whole. He will be missed, but we are excited to welcome Sam to the team to lead the operation moving forward,” said Jessica Tyler, President Cargo and Vice President Operations Innovation & Delivery.

“Sam’s fresh perspective and proven leadership, combined with the cargo expertise of his team, will be a recipe for great things to come.”

Mendenhall will begin transitioning to his role immediately and report directly to Tyler. Reporting to Mendenhall will be cargo veterans Tim Paliganoff, Eric Mathieu, and Elzbieta Kizer who will continue to support the global operations team.