Tribune staff report | Franco Tedeschi has been named the new head of American Airline’s hub at
Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport. He replaces Art Pappas, who had led operations at O’Hare, American’s
second-largest hub, since May 2006. Pappas is leaving to run American’s
home hub at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

A native of Italy who was raised in Scotland, Tedeschi has worked at American for the past 20 years. He’s held a variety of posts at airports around the world, including London Heathrow, Paris, Boston and Milan.

Since July 2009, Tedeschi has served as American’s managing director — airport operations, where he led airport service planning activities such as customer service, ramp, cabin service and other elements of the carrier’s daily field operations. He also helped meld the trans-Atlantic joint venture that American is forming with Oneworld marketing alliance partners British Airways and Iberia.