(Image source from: Tore)
American Airlines Group has hired an Indian American Priya Aiyar as the senior Vice President and General Counsel. She succeeds Paul Jones, who retired from American earlier this year.
Aiyar, a former Obama administration official, holds a Juris Doctor from Yale Law School, a master’s degree from the University of Oxford, and a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University.
“We are thrilled to welcome Priya to American Airlines,” said Steve Johnson, American’s Executive Vice President of Corporate Affairs on August 5. “Priya is an outstanding lawyer and an extraordinary intellect, and her strategic perspective, integrity, energy, unique experience, passion for the law, and demonstrated ability to build and inspire teams make her the perfect person to lead our legal strategy and the team over the coming years. We remain focused on evolving our culture and attracting the best and brightest to American and, in both respects, we could not have found a better person.”
Read: American Airlines Leave Special-Needs Kids Stranded at Airport
Aiyar’s will be the lead of the the major a major American airline’s Legal Affairs team and its legal strategies, including company’s corporate governance, securities, and corporate finance, business and commercial, litigation, competition and antitrust, compliance, privacy, environmental, employment, and intellectual property legal issues and work.
“We are enormously proud of what Paul and our terrific legal team have accomplished,” Johnson added. “I’m looking forward to working with Priya to build on that American work and take us to the next level.”
(Image source from: The Rhodes Project)
Aiyar joins American from Willkie Farr & Gallagher LLP, where she has been a partner and brings more than 18 years of government and private sector experience.
She served as Acting General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Department of the Treasury as well as Deputy General Counsel for the U.S. Department of Energy. Aiyar occupied senior legal roles within the National Commission on the BP Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill and the Federal Communications Commission and was a partner at Kellogg, Huber, Hansen, Todd, Evans & Figel PLLC. She began her legal career as an employee to Judge Merrick Garland of the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit and to Justice Stephen Breyer of the U.S. Supreme Court.
By Sowmya Sangam
