Capozzoli named VP flight operations for UPS Airlines

UPS veteran executive Matt Capozzoli has been appointed as vice president of flight operations at UPS Airlines. Capozzoli, 52, will take over from Captain Rick Barr, who is retiring after 23 years with the company.

The new VP joined UPS back in 1977 as a package handler, part-time supervisor and driver. The Philadelphia native was promoted into management in 1987 in operations and human resources, followed by a move to the UPS corporate office three years later to serve as an attorney.

Various legal roles in the 1990s, including a two-year stint as head of the UPS Airlines Legal and Regulatory Department based out of UPS Airlines HQ in Louisville, Kentucky, came prior to Capozzoli’s return to package operations in 2005 with district manager positions on the Eastern Seaboard and in the corporate office.

Since last year, Capozzoli has been managing special projects for UPS Airlines.

Announcing the appointment, UPS Airlines President Mitch Nichols said his new VP was a “classic UPS leader”.

“He started at the entry level and has spent his entire career learning the company inside and out,” Nichols said, adding: “He has the skills and perspective to take the UPS Airlines to the next level.”

Capt. Barr has been with UPS since June 1988, joining as a captain just four months after the company begen operating its own cargo airline, which has since become one of the largest airlines in the world with more than 500 of its own and chartered aircraft serving 766 airports across the world.

The Air Force veteran was promoted into management in 1989, rising through the ranks to his appointment as flight operations vice president in 1997.

UPS said that its airline had enjoyed an “outstanding record” of safety and performance during Barr’s tenure, growing to reach into 220 countries and territories daily.

The company said Barr had helped turn the UPS fleet into the “newest and most environmentally friendly” in cargo aviation, while also pioneering key safety programs.

“Rick Barr has demonstrated outstanding leadership in a variety of roles since the UPS Airlines’ earliest days. We will miss his insight and partnership,” said Nichols.