Press Release

Gate Gourmet Announces Management Changes

Zurich, December 7, 2004 - Gate Gourmet, one of the world's leading airline catering and logistics companies, today announced a number of appointments to its management team.

"One of my highest priorities has been the retention and recruitment of the very best people to work with us at Gate Gourmet," said David Siegel, Gate Gourmet chairman and chief executive officer, in an internal announcement. "Throughout our organization there are people with strong, relevant experience, a tremendous work ethic, vision and a personal commitment to our company and its success. To be successful in the future, however, we need to attract new colleagues who share those qualities; I believe we have found a number of such individuals."

Gate Gourmet Corporate

Stephen Wood has been named executive vice president, chief administrative officer and general counsel.  Stephen is a highly accomplished executive with deep experience in human resources, corporate communications and legal affairs in both the fast-paced food service industry and in the global health care business.  Stephen joins us from CIGNA HealthCare Service Operations where he was vice president, human resources.

Craig Cain is executive vice president of global lean manufacturing and supply chain management. Craig comes to Gate Gourmet from within the industry, having held similar positions at LSG SkyChefs, but also has a wealth of experience in these disciplines from his tenure in the automobile and technology industries.

Paul Lilley has assumed the new position of executive vice president and chief restructuring officer. In his new role, Paul will work with the senior leadership team to develop and implement strategies to help us become more cost competitive.  Prior to joining Gate Gourmet, Paul held senior financial and operations leadership roles at SGS Group, Geneva and BET Plc.

For the newly created position of senior vice president of corporate planning, John Whisnant has taken on responsibility for all of corporate strategic planning functions.  John's experience includes several years at Bain & Company, a leading strategic consulting firm, and as vice president for corporate planning at Northwest Airlines.

Jay Jenkins has been named vice president, global purchasing.  Jay has responsibility for worldwide purchasing, procurement, supply chain and vendor management.  Jay brings a wealth of experience in the procurement and purchasing disciplines, including work in the airline industry, the charter industry and in the aircraft manufacturing industry.

Mike Hargett has been appointed vice president, financial planning and analysis, responsible for budgeting, capital planning, financial analysis, financial planning, forecasting, and labor analysis. Prior to joining Gate Gourmet, Mike held similar positions within the airline industry, including serving as managing director of financial planning and analysis for US Airways.

As vice president of corporate real estate, Wayne Herndon will manage Gate Gourmet's global corporate real estate strategy and leasing activities. During his career, Wayne has held similar positions for US Airways, Delta and Continental Airlines.

Kevin Diddion has joined the company as interim president of Gate Safe.  Kevin comes from the consulting company Renaissance Aviation, where he was co-founder, president and chief operating officer and advised airlines, aviation services companies, investment banks and startup business ventures on all aspects of operations, finance and marketing.

Division Americas

Pete Pappas will join Gate Gourmet as president, Division Americas, on December 13th. Pete has more than 35 years experience in the aviation industry, including 20 years as an executive and a corporate officer at American Airlines where he worked on all phases of airline operations including strategic planning, fleet planning, marketing, sales, and services.

Pete's appointment is the subject of a release issued contemporaneously with this one.

Tony Bralich has been named vice president, labor relations, for the Division Americas.  In 21 years at US Airways, Tony has a wealth of experience in labor negotiations and human resources, all in the highly complex environment of the Railway Labor Act and the National Mediation Board.

Deborah Keller joined Gate Gourmet on November 27th as vice president, human resources, for Division Americas with responsibility for divisional home office and field HR. Deborah is a seasoned human resources professional with experience at General Electric and in the communications, healthcare and retail services sectors.

Division Europe

Jonathan  Stent-Torriani, president of Division Europe, will be leaving the company at the end of the year to pursue other interests. I want to thank Jonathan for his many contributions to our company and I know you join me in wishing him the very best. We have initiated a search for Jonathan's successor. In the interim I have asked Paul Lilley, our new chief restructuring officer, to lead the division.

Robert Deillon, who previously served as our senior vice president for process improvement, has been named chief operating officer for Division Europe.  In his new role, Robert will be responsible for all aspects of our day-to-day operations in Europe except for those in the United Kingdom.

Hooman Yazhari has been named general counsel for Europe and will supervise all of our legal matters in the region. Hooman joins Gate Gourmet from the law firm of Chadbourne & Parke in London, where he was a solicitor specializing in corporate and commercial finance, multi-jurisdictional mergers and acquisitions negotiations, joint ventures and other corporate matters.

The new vice president of lean manufacturing and supply chain management for Europe is Andrew Gibson who joined us from the business consulting firm of McKinsey & Co.  Andrew brings an extensive background in operations and strategic consulting for a broad range of manufacturing and service-related businesses.

Tim Schmidt has been named vice president of lean manufacturing and supply chain management for Gate Gourmet's United Kingdom operations. Tim comes from Rolls Royce and General Electric where he accumulated a wealth of experience in supply chain management, logistics, finance, and change management.

"I'm very excited about our leadership teams at the corporate and division levels, both our team members currently in place and those who are joining us," said Siegel in concluding his remarks. "Together, our management team has the talent and the experience to make us successful in our very competitive, very challenging marketplace and to lead us to a successful future. I have complete confidence that our new colleagues will make immediate and positive contributions to our operations and prospects."