Business of Loyalty: United Airlines Appoints a New Head of Loyalty

United Airlines has a new boss coming for Mileage Plus, its loyalty program. Luc Bondar officially takes the reins from Praveen Sharma, the current vice president of loyalty, merchandising and digital channels at United Airlines on November 1. According to the blog View From the Wing, the news was shared internally and verified by corporate communications, though United has so far declined to comment directly. Bondar comes from a rich loyalty marketing background spent primarily at Carlson Marketing Worldwide, part of the Carlson Companies hotel, restaurant, and travel empire. That marketing group was acquired by Montreal-based loyalty management company Groupe Aeroplan, which oversees Air Canada's Aeroplan, in 2009. The Canadian company later changed its name to Aimia, where Bondar was senior vice president for the U.S. region until he left to join Index Computer Software in 2016. Air Canada's contract with Aimia, of note, expires in 2020. As Bondar begins his life at United