US Virgin Islands Hotel & Tourism Association

Sea Star Holdings Inc., parent company of Seaborne Airlines, announces the appointment of Ben Munson as acting chief executive officer.

Munson has worked in various commercial planning divisions for over ten years. In addition to senior leadership experience at a major airline in capacity planning, his experience is complemented with direct commercial support at numerous airlines and airports. He has been a consultant for the Seaborne team for the last two years in the commercial area of the airline.

To ensure a successful transition and stronger airline going forward, Munson announced the following changes and alignment of the leadership team, as follows:

Capt. Jesus Medina, chief operating officer, will be leading all operations to include flight operations, system control, maintenance and airports. Medina joined Seaborne in Jan. 2016 as vice president of flight operations. Medina has over 18 years of airline experience as pilot and as director of system operations control.

Hector (Tato) Montanez, commercial vice president, will be responsible for marketing, sales, network planning, revenue management and reservations. Prior to his appointment, Montanez was director of business development and marketing at Seaborne, a role he assumed when joining the company in June 2014. Montanez brings more than 27 years of experience throughout the airline industry.

Olvin Valentin, vice president of people and general counsel, will lead all administrative, information technology and human resources aspects of the airline as well all legal duties. Before joining the Seaborne team in 2015 as general counsel, Valentin founded Nonprofit Institute LLC to help non-profit Puerto Rican businesses with varied services.

Jahallah Yearwood, controller, a 20 year Seaborne veteran, will continue to oversee all accounting and financial analysis. Yearwood began his career with Seaborne at an entry level and has grown and advanced through the ranks. He has been in the position of controller since 2006.

Susana Castro, director of safety and regulatory compliance, will continue the role she has been performing for the last two years. Prior to her safety role, Castro was general manager of the SJU hub airline operation and has 14 years of airline industry experience prior to joining the Seaborne team.

“I have a tremendous amount of confidence in all of them, in their capability and competence in leading their divisions and positioning the company and employees for success,” said Munson.

With this new leadership in place, Seaborne will continue their dedicated service to the Caribbean destinations they serve and is committed to improving and growing relationships throughout the region.