Barney Harford

About Barney Harford

Barney Harford is a board director and former public-company CEO and COO. He brings deep experience in governance, strategy, transactions and operational transformation. His work has spanned large-scale travel and technology businesses in public, private equity-backed and venture-backed environments.Barney currently serves on the boards of directors of United Airlines, Arrivia, Cvent, SavATree and Yummy. At United Airlines, he is a member of the Audit, Finance and Public Responsibility Committees. He also serves as an advisor to Otto, TravelX and WeSki.Barney served as COO of Uber Technologies, Inc. from 2018 to 2019 and helped lead the company through its 2019 IPO, which raised $8 billion and valued the company at $82 billion. He brought strategic focus and operational rigor to the global technology company, leading its global mini ride-sharing business and Uber Eats, with responsibility for operations, strategy, marketing, customer support, safety and insurance. During Barney’s tenure, those businesses together generated $61 billion in annual gross bookings,$12 billion in annual revenue and 6 billion trips annually, serving ~100 million active consumers. He led a organization during a critical phase in the company’s history, increasing focus on high-value customer segments, launching driver and consumer loyalty programs, reducing trip defect rates by 100 basis points, advancing major safety initiatives and expanding the platform into lower-cost transportation modes including motorbike and bus.Prior to joining Uber, Barney served as CEO and a director of Orbitz Worldwide, Inc. from 2009 to 2015, where he returned the company to top- and bottom-line growth through greater focus on hotel distribution. He led its sale to Expedia, Inc. for $1.6 billion, delivering 191% total shareholder return over his tenure as CEO. While at Orbitz Worldwide, he launched Orbitz Rewards and built the Orbitz Partner Network into a leading provider of private-label travel solutions for airlines, hotels, travel agencies and banks.Prior to Orbitz Worldwide, Barney spent nearly eight years in senior leadership roles at Expedia, where he founded the company’s B2B private-label business, led its air and car businesses and, as President of Expedia Asia Pacific, led its expansion into China, Japan and Australia.Barney holds an MBA from INSEAD and a BA and MA (Cantab) in Natural Sciences from the University of Cambridge (Clare College).Barney is a Board Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors.

Experience

1. Board Director

   United Airlines

   Apr 2016 — Present

   United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL) is the largest airline in the world, with more than employees helping 175 million customers reach over 370 destinations across six continents each year. As the leading carrier across the Atlantic and Pacific, United serves as the flag carrier of the United States.

Education

• INSEAD

  MBA

• University of Cambridge

  BA (Hons), MA (Cantab), Natural Sciences

  1991 — 1994

Skills

• Database Marketing
• Product Management
• Online Travel
• Online Advertising
• Leadership
• Management Consulting
• Start-Ups
• New Business Development
• Incubation
• Corporate Development
• Hotels
• Product Development
• Strategy
• E-Commerce
• Advertising
• Airlines
• P&L Responsibility
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Web Analytics
• Machine Learning
• Scalability
• New Ventures
• Strategic Planning
• Ad Networks
• Online Marketing
• Cross-Functional Team Leadership
• User Experience
• Marketing Strategy
• Budgets
• Asia Pacific
• Project Management
• Strategic Partnerships
• Business Development
• Digital Marketing
• A/B Testing
• Analytics
• Business Strategy
• Multi-Channel Marketing
• Social Media
• Travel Management