Accelya promotes Jim Davidson as it begins search for new chief executive

Former Farelogix boss takes on day-to-day management while successor to John Johnston is recruited

by Avery Ketcherside

Travel technology solutions provider Accelya has promoted chief product officer Jim Davidson to president and chief strategy officer.

John Johnston will be stepping down as chief executive officer and switch to the role of special advisor.

Davidson has assumed day-to-day operations of Accelya during the company’s search for its next chief executive officer.

In addition to serving as chief executive officer at Farelogix for more than 15 years, Davidson has industry experience and customer-centric strategies.

He oversaw the building of Farelogix’s New Distribution Capability (NDC) solutions and has been encouraging Accelya’s investment in NDC.

He said: “When I joined Accelya, I was excited by the team’s vision to deliver critical solutions to airlines from offer to settle.

“Accelya’s future as the global leader in airline and travel industry solutions has been made possible by the team John helped develop and the culture he supported.

“As the world aspires to travel more in 2022 and beyond, this culture and our commitment to lead through innovation mean we are well-positioned to deliver game-changing solutions for the air transport industry.”

During his time as chief executive officer, Johnston oversaw the development of Accelya into an air transport software business and led the company through several acquisitions.

These acquisitions include the combination of Accelya and Mercator in 2017 and the addition of Farelogix in 2020.

Johnston’s leadership is credited for the successful expansion of the company’s product portfolio globally.

Johnston added: “Today, Accelya is the only company capable of providing full lifecycle systems and services, from offer through settlement, and it fills me with pride to see what our team has accomplished these past six years.

“I’m thankful to each of my colleagues who helped make this a productive and successful journey and look forward to seeing the company continue to go from strength to strength under new leadership and as a Special Advisor.”