Atlas Air Appoints Chief People Officer Amid Phase of Growth

Atlas Air has announced that it has appointed Emma Woodthorpe as its Chief People Officer, amid a period of growth for the company. 

According to the company, her role will involve leading Atlas Air’s global talent and culture agenda – strengthening leadership models, ensuring talent strategies are aligned with business priorities and advancing the company’s operating model to support this phase of growth. 

“At Atlas, our people are at the centre of everything we do,” says Michael Steen, CEO of Atlas Air. “Emma has demonstrated success in strengthening leadership capability, increasing employee engagement, embedding clear values and behaviours and creating more connected and accountable organisations – capabilities that directly support our ambition to live a thriving culture at Atlas.”

Transformational HR leadership

Emma has more than 25 years of experience in building high-performing organisations and leading key transformation initiatives. Prior to joining Atlas, she served as the Chief People Officer of Brooks Automation for nearly four years – where she partnered with the board to lead company-wide transformation through scalable people practices designed to support growth. 

Before that, she spent over five years at Mercury Systems as Senior Vice President and Chief Human Resources Officer, where she helped scale the company through 14 acquisitions and supported its growth from around US$200m to nearly US$1bn. 

In her new role, she will oversee talent acquisition, leadership development, organisational effectiveness, total rewards, employee engagement and relations, HR operations and people technology.

“I am excited to join the team at this pivotal moment in Atlas’ journey,” she says. “The company has built strong momentum, and we will build on this foundation to support our global workforce and position the business for long-term success. 

“People and culture are critical enablers of Atlas’ continued growth, and I look forward to working with the team to advance the Company’s people agenda.”

A ‘pivotal moment’ for Atlas

Emma joins Atlas Air as the company embarks on a period of global growth. 

In March, Atlas Air placed a “landmark” order for 20 Airbus A350F freighters – the largest ever placed for that model. 

“We are proud to become the largest customer for the Airbus A350F, securing early delivery positions for this next-generation widebody freighter platform,” said Michael. “This order reflects our commitment to maintaining the industry’s most modern and fuel-efficient widebody freighter fleet to best service existing and new customers worldwide.”

According to Airbus, Atlas Air is “uniquely positioned,” as an outsourced aviation logistics company to “bring the A350F’s next-generation performance to global operators across a wide variety of business models and markets.”

The A350F features the largest main deck cargo door in the industry, and over 70% of the airframe is made up of advanced materials – resulting in a 46 tonne lighter take-off weight than the competing derivative. 

“The A350F is a highly capable, reliable platform, with incremental payload and range benefits, and a strong sustainability profile,” Michael continued. “We are pleased to add Airbus and Rolls-Royce to our supplier base of leading aircraft and engine manufacturers, offering us optionality and supporting our global operations and continued growth.”