David Kondo will take over as Senior Director Austrian Brand Experience from 15 October 2023, and will thus be responsible for Austrian Airlines’ entire marketing and product management in the future. This includes advertising and market communication, brand management and the design of the customer experience along the entire travel chain.

David Kondo’s strong passion for aviation started early, growing up between Japan, Canada and Australia and travelling regularly since childhood. This also had a significant influence on his professional career. He started at Virgin Australia as a Product & Operations Graduate before moving to Qatar Airways in 2013 as a Product and Strategy Specialist where he renewed the inflight service and led the design development of the “Qsuites” Business Class. In 2015 he returned to Australia to Qantas Group, where he led the infight retail programs of Jetstar Japan and Jetstar Asia (Singapore). Since 2017 David has been with Finnair, holding various senior leadership positions in customer experience to deliver for example the award-winning long-haul experience and redevelopment of Helsinki airport.

David Kondo is also currently a member of the Airline Passenger Experience Association (APEX) Board of Directors. In addition to his studies in engineering and airline business, he also has a background in design thinking and innovation.

“I am convinced that David Kondo’s industry expertise and his knowledge of customer experience make him the ideal fit for this position”, said Austrian Chief Commercial Officer Michael Trestl.