Source: Ontario International Airport

Ontario International Airport (ONT) officials announced the appointment of Mark Haneke, a distinguished aviation industry executive of 30 years, as Chief Marketing and Air Service Strategy Officer, a new position critical to the airport’s accelerating recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic and the future growth of commercial air service.

Haneke, who has traveled extensively to more than 120 countries on the seven continents of the globe, has been manager of air service development and marketing at Sacramento International Airport (SMF) where he was instrumental in growing airline seat capacity by 28% and flight departures by 22% including new and expanded services to such popular destinations as Boston, Florida, Hawaii, Mexico, New York, Vancouver and Washington, D.C.

Prior to the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, SMF passenger volume grew 37% under Haneke’s watch beginning in 2015. More recently, Haneke’s efforts have been critical in restoring SMF’s seat capacity to 95% of 2019 levels.

“Mark joins us at an exciting time with Ontario International’s pandemic recovery moving at an industry-leading pace. From his position in Sacramento, he gained a keen understanding of Ontario’s evolution as an aviation gateway for Southern California. His impressive background and record of accomplishment will help to ensure our airport’s continued success,” said Atif Elkadi, Chief Executive Officer of the Ontario International Airport Authority (OIAA). “With his extensive travel history, Mark knows well what makes airports most appealing to airlines and air travelers alike. We eagerly await his arrival.”

In addition to spearheading air service development, Haneke will oversee marketing, communications, community engagement, customer experience and digital media operations when he assumes his new role June 6.

“I’m thrilled to join the OIAA team at such an exciting time in the ONT’s history. I’m impressed by the team’s ‘can do’ spirit and optimistic about ONT’s upside potential given the Inland Empire’s strong economic outlook. I look forward to ensuring that ONT captures a growing share of SoCal air traffic,” Haneke said.

Haneke earned a Master of Business Administration degree at Thunderbird School of Global Management in Phoenix, Master of Arts (Economics) at the University of Texas at Arlington and Bachelor of Science (Business Administration) at the University of Colorado Boulder. He speaks French, German and Spanish.

Officials also announced the recent hire of Quinn Pl. Annelin as senior manager of air service development who will work closely with Haneke in attracting new airlines and growing ONT’s commercial air service. The Orange County resident is a veteran of the airline industry with 14 years of experience in a variety of sales, alliances and data analysis positions with United Airlines, Hawaiian Airlines and Continental Airlines. Before joining ONT, Annelin was most recently senior manager of market strategy with United Airlines in San Francisco, charged with increasing the airline’s local market share.

Annelin holds a Master of Business Administration from the University of Texas at Austin and a Bachelor of Arts (International Relations & Asian Studies) from Claremont McKenna College in Claremont, CA, where he was a four-year varsity swimmer. Annelin also has spent time studying and working in Japan, and is proficient in Japanese.