I frequently write about interesting executive appointments in the airline industry, but here’s one that hits very close to home…
Tiffany Funk becomes the new Head of Flying Blue!
I don’t want to bury the lede here, but Tiffany Funk has just accepted a role as Head of Flying Blue, the loyalty program of Air France, KLM, and now Transavia. Ben Lipsey was previously Head of Flying Blue, and his role has now expanded to being SVP Loyalty, Digital & Data.
There’s a lot going on here, so I don’t even know where to begin. I’ve worked with Tiffany since 2011 (until just a few weeks ago). We’re not big into job titles here at OMAAT, but she basically handled the business side of things, and also ran our award consulting service, PointsPros.
It’s thanks to Tiffany that I’ve been able to dedicate my time to blogging and covering the industry, which is my passion, without having to worry so much about the business or revenue implications of whatever I wrote.
In addition to that, and more recently, Tiffany was also Co-Founder & President of point.me, the award search startup (which PointsPros was integrated into). What she built there has been impressive to watch.
But I’m not here to write some corporate biography, because that wouldn’t do justice to my history with Tiffany. I mean, I was 21 years old when we started working together! As you can imagine, that covers a very large portion of both of our lives!
We’ve flown some fantastic products together –- and even more that were not-so-fantastic, or downright indescribable. We’ve shared leisurely layovers and outright sprints, and stayed in some ghastly (and some ghostly) hotels. I’ve dragged her from Chicago to Los Angeles via Charlotte, Paris, Beijing, Tokyo, and Taipei (obviously so we could maximize both US Airways Dividend Miles routing rules and Hello Kitty), and she’s wrangled me into preparing a four-course meal from the Polaris cookbook. We’ve had weeks where we flew back-and-forth to everywhere from Managua to Beijing, spent endless hours in airports and lounges, and have seen (or skipped) so many random corners of the world together.
Tiffany is smart, motivated, loyal, and always determined to find solutions to problems, and is a brilliant strategist. She’s also really sassy, so good luck to the folks at Air France-KLM, because she’s a lot to handle, in the best way possible. 😉
I think it’s also important to give some credit to the two other Bens involved here (not me!) — Ben Smith and Ben Lipsey.
Air France-KLM CEO Ben Smith is one-of-a-kind, as a leader, a human, and an aviation geek. I first met him over a decade ago, and had a chance to fly with him last spring as well. I think his single biggest skill, other than just having a really good grasp on the industry, is being able to surround himself with great people.
He’s been unafraid to make bold hires, including Air FranceCEO Anne Rigail and KLM CEO Marjan Rintel. Not only have they done an amazing job, but it’s also impressive given how few female executives are in the airline industry at all, much less at the CEO level. He identifies people with potential, and has given so many people amazing opportunities in the industry, and he almost never misses.
The prime example of that is Ben Lipsey, who first met Ben Smith on FlyerTalk, started working at Air Canada right out of college, and has worked with him ever since. Ben Lipsey is of course also a smart and passionate aviation geek, but his expertise goes far beyond that.
He treats loyalty as a customer engagement engine, and not a cost center, nor as a balance sheet liability. In loyalty, he’s one of the “good ones,” and he has very clear opinions on where the industry has been getting it wrong. So I’m very happy to see his new role, because all too often, loyalty is broken off from the rest of the company. Combining loyalty, digital, and data, could have some pretty cool implications for members.
I’m proud, and can’t think of someone more qualified!
When Tiffany told me about this opportunity at Flying Blue, I couldn’t help but wholeheartedly support her, and be very excited!
If you ask me, way too many airlines just don’t think outside the box with how they hire people. Heck, think back to when Ben Smith was appointed CEO of Air France-KLM, where the thought of hiring a non-French national for the role seemed almost inconceivable. Yet I’d argue that the airline is as well run as it has ever been, and that was a great choice.
Tiffany brings a unique perspective to her new position, and I think between her and Ben Lipsey, it’ll be a very nice balance. Ben has been working directly in the airline industry his entire career, while Tiffany has technically been working directly in the airline industry for exactly zero of her career.
Instead, she has worked in everything adjacent to that, which is useful from a loyalty perspective — she understands these programs better than anyone from a consumer’s perspective, and also understands the co-brand credit card business, the tech side of loyalty (through point.me), etc. Like, I always find it a bit odd when someone from an airline’s cargo division gets appointed to lead loyalty, or something. Tell us how you really feel about us! 😉
So I trust that Tiffany will have a lot of fresh ideas for the Flying Blue team. I know I’ve been talking her ear off. And I hope that her fresh perspective can lead to some actually cool innovations. And it should go without saying, but… even with Tiffany at Flying Blue, I’ll continue to cover the program, both good and bad, and share my honest take.
I should also acknowledge that I understand the challenging economics of loyalty programs. Ideally, we all want unlimited saver business class awards on all flights, but that has to be balanced with the economics. However, I think for far too long, most airlines haven’t really taken a sophisticated approach to maximizing engagement from members and finding a mutually beneficial way to deliver value. So I hope that the two Bens give her some runway to play with things, and I can’t wait to follow along!
Bottom line
Tiffany Funk has been appointed Head of Flying Blue, and Ben Lipsey’s role has now been expanded to SVP Loyalty, Digital & Data. I think this is cool on so many levels — I’m very proud of Tiffany, and I’m happy to see Ben Lipsey’s role expanded, plus pulling together data and digital into the same umbrella as loyalty.
Personally, I think it’s extra cool that this move is being helmed by two people who are from our community and came up with a deep love and understanding of the miles and points space. I can’t tell you how many loyalty executives I’ve met who don’t actually have a passion for their programs, and who really don’t believe in the power of loyalty to transform consumer behavior.
So I look forward to seeing what comes next at Flying Blue, and to follow along from the sidelines!
