Name: Trey Urbahn
Title: Chief strategy officer
Company, city: TAP Air Portugal; Lisbon, Portugal
Number of employees: Approximately 7,800 airline employees, with another 4,000-plus at ground handling, maintenance and regional subsidiaries
Recent project: Transforming TAP from a traditional state-owned carrier into a private, innovative and profitable airline capable of competing globally
First job: I rotated stock on supermarket shelves for a pet food company while in college.
Little-known fact about you: I commute weekly from my home in Connecticut to Lisbon. Previously I commuted to São Paulo. Over the past 12 years I’ve flown more than 5 million miles and spent more than 1,000 nights commuting for work.
Your Business
What innovations or initiatives do you foresee in the industry over the next few years? Wide-body aircraft often fly with unused capacity. Some carriers, including TAP, have introduced containerized crew-rest modules that provide up to seven bunks and stairway access. Comparable modular concepts will evolve for passenger use, offering flexible cabin configurations and additional rest or privacy spaces on long-haul flights.
Best career advice you’ve received: Work in aviation because you love the industry. If your primary goal is to get rich quickly, financial markets are a better route.
What advice would you give someone starting out in the field? Aviation is fundamentally a service business. Take care of your employees and they will take care of your customers, and those customers ultimately sustain the business.
Trey Urbahn as a Traveler
Favorite travel memory or story: Visiting Fernando de Noronha off Brazil’s coast — an undeveloped island with spectacular beaches and exceptional natural beauty.
One travel tip you cannot live without: I always travel with my own pillow, noise-cancelling headphones and an iPad loaded with movies or ebooks.
Best advice for business travelers: Consider flying to Europe via Lisbon on TAP. Our business-class and economy-plus fares are often lower than competitors, and our stopover program lets travelers add a free short visit to Lisbon or Porto when booking transatlantic flights.
About TAP Air Portugal
What can travelers expect from TAP Air Portugal in 2018?
In 2017 we installed state-of-the-art lie-flat seats in seven newer Airbus A330-200s. In 2018 TAP became the launch carrier for the Airbus A330-900neo, with deliveries scheduled through 2019. These aircraft feature the Airspace cabin interior and will support market growth. We’re also introducing the Airbus A321neo LR with fully lie-flat business-class seats along with premium-economy and economy configurations. The A321neo LR enables TAP to serve thinner long-haul routes that don’t justify a 300-seat widebody, such as destinations in the eastern United States and northeast Brazil. Our order book of A330s, A320s and A321neos will enhance fleet efficiency and product consistency across the network.
Tell our readers about the stopover program, which recently expanded from three to five nights.
The stopover program has been very successful: more than 80,000 travelers from the Americas have used it in recent years. With TAP serving more than 65 destinations across Europe and Africa, the program encourages travelers to sample Portugal and connect to Europe without extra airfare. Travelers can spend up to five nights in Lisbon or Porto at no additional airfare. Additional perks include hotel discounts (and a complimentary night for some business-class bookings), complimentary wine with meals at participating restaurants, shopping discounts at a major department store and complimentary experiences such as walking tours or museum entry, depending on promotions in place.
What can premium travelers expect from their TAP Air Portugal experience?
By 2020, our long-haul fleet will be largely new or recently reconfigured, delivering a more consistent onboard product. We’ve partnered with top Portuguese chefs to enhance inflight dining across classes and are expanding the selection of Portuguese wines in our award-winning beverage program. Premium travelers can expect the “new TAP” to offer improved comfort, service and value, while remaining competitive on price for transatlantic travel between the United States and Europe.