D. Jim Young Executive Director

Jim Young is a travel industry veteran with two decades of experience in
marketing, strategy and commercial operations for airline, hospitality and
travel technology firms worldwide.

In his role as Executive Director, Jim oversees all aspects of the
organization including Technology (standard, certification, support),
Membership and Advocacy in support of the group’s mission to promote XML as
the optimal electronic messaging structure for airline system connectivity.

Jim’s track record as a strategic and tactical driver of airline industry
change and innovation made him a natural fit to lead Open AXIS Group. In his
prior role as Vice President of Distribution, Sales and Chief Marketing
Officer for Frontier Airlines, Jim spearheaded various new distribution
initiatives including creation of the then-new bundled pricing structure
(“AirFairs”). As Managing Director of Distribution Planning for Continental
Airlines, Jim’s projects included participation in the founding of Orbitz as
well as the development of emerging technologies such as Hotwire.

In addition to executive leadership, Jim brings a wealth of experience in
the definition of new standards and processes designed to expedite and scale
innovation in the travel industry. During his tenure as Senior Vice
President Global Distribution for Intercontinental Hotels Group, Jim
architected and instituted brand standards that enabled a dramatic expansion
of hotel distribution through third party intermediaries. Jim also served
as founder and co-chairman of the Open Travel Alliance from 1999-2002.

Jim is affiliated with a number of industry organizations and academic
institutions, including the Wharton School of Business and the Georgia
Institute of Technology. A native of Canada, Jim grew up in Edmonton,
Alberta, and has lived and worked in various cities throughout North America
and Europe.

Christopher Frawley Customer Standards Advisor

Christopher Frawley is a travel industry professional with over 25 years of experience in varied management disciplines. Chris has developed a broad skill portfolio through a variety of multi-faceted roles. He has experience in customer service, reservations, sales, product support, operations, marketing, strategic planning, product management, ecommerce, customer relationship management, and business development.

Chris played an instrumental role for travel automation company Amadeus in defining and executing their North American product strategy. At Continental Airlines, he led their customer self-service initiatives from speech recognition to airport kiosks. As a founding executive at Eos, Chris helped develop their customer experience design and policies as well as delivered the company’s online presence. At start-up airline Skybus, he had the central responsibility for envisioning and implementing the airport customer experience. For Frontier Airlines, Chris helped coordinate and implement their revamped fare system and improve their online customer experience.

Chris’s particular strength lies in translating customer and business desires into the successful vision, design, communication, and execution of customer experience initiatives that deliver both customer and business value. 

Board of Directors
Open AXIS Group

The Open AXIS Group Board of Directors consists of representative from the group’s founding airline members as well as two board seats reserved for non-airline allied members.
Read more about the Open AXIS Group Bylaws.