Tewolde GebreMariam Tesfay is an Ethiopian aviation chief. He is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopian Airlines. He started his career in 1985 and served in different capacities in the cargo traffic handling department and moved up the ladder to become Manager Cargo Traffic Handling. GebreMariam was appointed as Regional Director for India and South East Asia based in Bombay before being transferred to Jeddah as Area Manager for Saudi Arabia.
Upon Ethiopian Airlines’ direct services to the US, he was appointed as Area Sales Manager for North East USA and Canada based in New York and went on to sit as the Executive Officer Marketing & Sales to head the Marketing and Sales Operations of Ethiopian. Driving to career success with accelerated excellence and promotion, he rose to become Group CEO of Ethiopian Airlines in 2011.
In addition to his roles as CEO of Ethiopian Airlines, he has served as a member on the High-level Advisory Group on Sustainable Transport (HLAG-ST) with former United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon. He also serves as a member of the Board of Governors of the International Air Transport Association (IATA); an Executive Committee member of the African Airlines Association (AFRAA); a Board member of the Airlink Advisory Council; a member of Board of Directors of Africa Travel Association (ATA); a member of Board of Directors of Ethio-Telecom, a Board member of Ethiopian Railway Corporation; a Board Member of Commercial Bank of Ethiopia; and the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Ethiopian Tourism Organization (ETO).
GebreMariam holds a degree in Economics from the Addis Ababa University in Ethiopia and a master’s degree in Business Administration from the Open University in the United Kingdom.
Having churned a slew of leadership skills, he is a recipient of several awards and recognitions, among which is the winner of the Africa CEO Forum’s CEO of the Year award in 2012, the feat he still retains to date. This honor stems from his laudable exploits of turning the national airline into a profitable tool of Ethiopian economic expansion, successfully battling Middle Eastern carriers for African routes.
