Robert Milton was appointed Chairman, President and CEO of ACE Aviation Holdings Inc. (ACE) on September 30, 2004. ACE is the parent holding company under which the reorganized Air Canada and separate legal entities such as Aeroplan, Air Canada Jazz, Air Canada Technical Services, Air Canada Cargo, Air Canada Groundhandling, Destina.ca and Touram (Air Canada Vacations) are held.
Mr. Milton, who is also Chairman of Air Canada, held the position of President and CEO of Air Canada from August 1999 until December 2004. Within days of his being appointed CEO, Air Canada was faced with a hostile takeover bid initiated by Onex and American Airlines. Mr. Milton led the defence which defeated the hostile bid in September of the same year. During his tenure as CEO, Mr. Milton has led the corporation through some of the most significant challenges in airline industry’s history including the economic downturn and bursting of the high tech bubble; the aftermath of the terrorist attacks in United States on September 11, 2001; and the impact of the SARS virus on Toronto – home of Air Canada’s largest hub.
In 2003-2004, Mr. Milton led Air Canada’ restructuring which has positioned the airline to compete effectively in the new airline environment. As part of its restructuring Air Canada has reduced its operating costs to a competitive level through the renegotiation of labour agreements, aircraft leases and various other commercial agreements; implemented a fleet renewal program; completed a restructuring of the airline’s debt and lease obligations; redefined Air Canada’s core product offerings; and reorganized Air Canada’s corporate structure to enable key businesses, including loyalty management, Cargo, Groundhandling and Technical Services, to better compete for third part business and generate value for stakeholders.
Prior to joining Air Canada he was a founding partner in Air Eagle Holdings Inc. and an independent commercial aviation consultant to British Aerospace. He started his career with Air Canada in 1992 on a consulting basis and assumed increasingly responsible positions in cargo operations, scheduling, product design, advertising, inflight service and marketing until his appointment as Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer in 1996. Mr. Milton graduated in 1983 from Georgia Institute of Technology with a Bachelor of Science Degree in Industrial Management.