Who's on the move: March 25, 2024

CPKC / Norfolk Southern

John Orr, executive vice-president and chief transformation officer at Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) is leaving the railway to join Norfolk Southern as chief operating officer. CPKC has agreed to a waiver of Orr’s non-competition agreement to allow him to work for Norfolk Southern. The railways agreed to a one-time waiver fee of US$25 million plus operational and commercial considerations related to the Meridian Speedway and the Meridian Terminal related to CPKC’s proposed Meridian & Bigbee Railroad (MNBR) acquisition. Norfolk Southern has also agreed to temporally limited no-hire and non-solicitation restrictions for a short list of employees of CPKC. Orr will remain subject to his non-solicitation restrictions. Orr was appointed executive vice-president and chief transformation officer of CPKC on April 14, 2023. Previously he was executive vice-president operations for Kansas City Southern from 2021 through 2023. The role of chief transformation officer will not be replaced.

Westjet

Diederik Pen

The WestJet Group has appointed Diederik Pen as president of WestJet Airlines effective April 1, 2024. As WestJet Group chief operating officer and president of WestJet Airlines, Pen will continue to report to Alexis von Hoensbroech, the WestJet Group’s CEO. Pen joined the WestJet Group in October of 2021, as executive vice-president and chief operating officer. Before joining WestJet, Pen had more than 25 years of aviation-industry experience in the Asia-Pacific and European regions, as an executive vice-president and chief operating officer for multiple airlines.

ISAAC Instruments

ISAAC Instruments has promoted J.S. Bouchard to chief product officer (CPO). Bouchard is one of ISAAC’s co-founders, and most recently served as executive vice-president. He has played a critical role in the development and commercialization of the ISAAC solution and ISAAC InControl mobile tablet since its inception. ISAAC also hired Sam Sussenguth as chief sales officer. Sussenguth has spent his entire career in the transportation telematics sector. His extensive experience includes managing high-performing sales professionals.