Nick Diesel named Virgin Atlantic Cargo’s managing director, starting August 4.
Virgin Atlantic Cargo has announced the appointment of Nick Diesel as its new managing director, effective August 4. Diesel takes over from Phil Wardlaw, who has been at the helm since 2021 and is moving on to a different role.
Mark Faulkner, the head of cargo commercial, will act as interim managing director from June 3 to August 3 until Diesel assumes his new position.
Diesel has been with Virgin Atlantic for nine years, holding various senior leadership roles, including vice president of financial planning. In this role, he guided the team through post-pandemic recovery and charted a course towards profitability. Before joining Virgin Atlantic, Diesel worked in strategy and operations consultancy at Deloitte, where he was involved in significant projects, such as the finance lead for the expanded joint venture with Air France-KLM and Delta Air Lines.
During the pandemic, Diesel played a crucial role in coordinating the team through the airline’s £1.5 billion recapitalization, facilitating its recovery. Expressing his enthusiasm for his new role, Diesel stated, “I am incredibly excited to take on this new challenge. Virgin Atlantic Cargo is one of the most important business units we have, and collectively this team delivered amazing achievements through the pandemic, enabling our recovery. As the world starts to normalise, every day they show an unrivalled ability to adapt to an ever-changing world while maintaining a focus on our customers to deliver the best service possible. The cargo division continues on a successful trajectory for 2024 and I look forward to building on this with the team.”
Juha Jarvinen, Virgin Atlantic’s chief commercial officer, expressed his confidence in Diesel’s capabilities, highlighting his instrumental role during the pandemic transformation.
