Senior management

Jean-Marc Eustache was the principal architect of the 1987 creation of Transat A.T. Inc. His forward-thinking business vision — focused on vertical integration — combined with outstanding leadership skills have helped elevate Transat A.T. Inc. to the rank of Canada’s tourism industry leader. With its subsidiaries and affiliates, the Company has also become international in scope and one of the world tourism industry’s largest players.

He holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics (1974) from l'Université du Québec à Montréal. He began his career in the tourism industry in 1977 at Tourbec, a travel agency specializing in youth and student tourism, before founding Trafic Voyages — the foundation for  the creation of Transat A.T. —  in 1982.

Very active in the community, Mr. Eustache is a member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Canadian Tourism Commission, and also sits on the boards of Quebecor Inc., the Conference Board of Canada, the Cercle des présidents du Québec (network of Quebec CEOs) and the Espace Go theatre group. He is also Chair of the Université du Québec à Montréal Foundation.

For his major contribution to the development of the tourism industry, Mr. Eustache has been honoured with several prestigious awards, including the Canadian Tourism Hall of Fame (2008), the 2006 Trophée Grand Ulysse from Tourisme Montréal; Ernst & Young’s 2005 Entrepreneur of the Year Award for Quebec; the La Presse daily newspaper’s CEO of the Year award for 2004; the Prix Performance 2000 awarded by the management network of Université du Québec à Montréal; Cubanacan’s 2000 Award of Excellence; World Travel Market’s 1996 Global Award presented in London, England; Transport Canada’s 1992 Award of Excellence; and, the same year, the Industry Distinction award from the Association québécoise des agences de voyages (Quebec chapter of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies).

Born in France, Philippe Sureau arrived in Canada in 1977, bringing his already significant experience in the emerging tourism industry. He joined Tourbec, where he worked with Jean-Marc Eustache. Two years later, the two relaunched Tourbec after the company folded. Mr. Sureau then helped found and develop several of the companies (Nortour, Trafic Voyages, Trafic Tour France) that banded together to form Transat in 1987. His main role with Transat is overseeing marketing, sales, strategy and external relations for the Company's business units.

From 1997 to 2000, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Air Transat, then directed the development of Transat's Internet venture. Today, he heads the distribution side of the company in Canada and France, supervising operations both online and via traditional networks.

Mr. Sureau has played a major role in the development of the Quebec and Canadian tourism industries. Among other contributions, he served as President of the Association québécoise des agences de voyages (Quebec chapter of the Association of Canadian Travel Agencies) in 1986-87; Chairman of the Air Transport Association of Canada (ATAC) in 1995-96; and member of the Board of Directors of Manoir Richelieu from 1999 to 2005. In April 2005, Mr. Sureau was appointed a member of the Comité consultatif des agents de voyages, an advisory board for travel agents created by the Government of Quebec. He has also been Chair of the Cercle de tourisme du Québec, an association of decision-makers from various sectors of the tourism industry, since September 2007.

In the mid-1970s, Lina De Cesare's love of travel led her to join the team of Tourbec, a travel agency specializing in youth and student tourism. There, she worked alongside Jean-Marc Eustache and Philippe Sureau, an association that turned out to be decisive, as all three went on, in 1987, to found Transat A.T. Inc. The company is today the Canadian leader and a major international player in the tourism industry.

Ms. De Cesare has played a key role in this tremendous growth. In 1991, she was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Transat Holidays, which under her direction won numerous industry awards in Canada and abroad and became Canada's foremost tour operator.

In 1999, Ms. De Cesare was appointed Executive Vice-President, Tour Operators, for Transat A.T. In this capacity, she was responsible for developing the presence of the group's member tour operators in France as well as in Canada. Since January 2005, she has directed all of Transat's tour operations - the company's core business - as well as all essential related functions: product development, purchasing from thousands of suppliers in more than 60 countries, inventory management, commercialization, sales and marketing. Her team, distributed throughout eight countries, works in six languages and sells products in Canada and practically all European countries.

Ms. Cesare is involved in humanitarian, philanthropic and cultural causes, both personally and on behalf of Transat. While the company supports organizations and institutions such as Université du Québec à Montréal and Théâtre Espace Go, Ms. De Cesare gives her time to the Centraide/United Way fundraising campaign and other causes to which she is particularly devoted, such as literacy. She has also been a member of the Board of Directors of Cirque Éloize since April 2008. In October 2008, Ms. De Cesare won a Prix femmes d'affaires du Québec award in the “Manager or Professional, Private Enterprise” category. The annual awards are organized by the Réseau des femmes d’affaires du Québec.

Corinne Charette was appointed Vice-President and Chief Information Officer of Transat in May 2006. Prior to joining the Company, Ms. Charette was Deputy Director and Chief Information Officer of FINTRAC, the federal government agency that receives and discloses financial intelligence on suspected money laundering, terrorist financing and threats to the country's security. Before that, she served as Senior Vice-President, Web Channels and Retailers, for the Canadian Imperial Bank of Commerce. During her 30-year professional career, she has also worked for KPMG, IBM Global Services and Via Rail Canada. She is an engineer with a degree from Concordia University.

Bernard Bussières was appointed Vice-President, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary of Transat in June 2001. Prior to joining the Transat management team, Mr. Bussières was a Senior Partner with the law firm Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP.

A specialist in business and commercial law, particularly in corporate financing, the sale and acquisition of companies, as well as technology transfer and licensing, Mr. Bussières began his career with De Grandpré Godin, then joined Martineau Walker from 1990 to 1994. The following year, he worked briefly in the Legal Affairs Department of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec, before returning to private practice with Fasken Martineau DuMoulin LLP. Mr. Bussières holds a Bachelor of Civil Law degree from Université d'Ottawa. He is a member of the Bar of Montreal, the Barreau du Québec and the Canadian Bar Association. He is also a member of Réseau Capital and the Chambre de commerce et d'industrie de la Rive-Sud.

André de Montigny joined the Transat team in 2000 as Vice-President, Corporate Development. He served previously as Vice-President, Telecommunications, for Capital Communications CDPQ, a subsidiary of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec. He also worked for Vidéotron Ltd. and Teleglobe Canada as, respectively, Vice-President, Business Development, and Director, Business Development. Mr. de Montigny has bachelor's and master's degrees in Economics from Université de Montréal. He also holds a master's in Business Administration from HEC Montréal.

Nelson Gentiletti came to Transat in 2002 as Chief Financial Officer and was appointed President, Transat Tours Canada, in 2006. Prior to joining Transat, Mr. Gentiletti served as Chief Financial Officer at BCE Emergis Inc., a subsidiary of BCE Inc.; Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer at Unican Security Systems Ltd., a public corporation; and Vice-President, Finance, for Videotron ltée. Between 1986 and 1996, he held several positions at Minet, a property and casualty insurance broker, before becoming Chief Financial Officer and Head of Administration at the corporation's head office in New York City. Mr. Gentiletti is a chartered accountant and graduate of McGill University. He also holds a Bachelor of Commerce degree from Concordia University.

François Laurin held senior management positions with several large Canadian companies before joining Transat in May 2005. He served for two years as Vice-President, Investments, of the Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec's Private Investments Group, responsible for the media and communications portfolio. Prior to that, he was Vice-President and Controller of Bombardier Transportation in Berlin. He is also a former Vice-President, Finance and Administration, of Microcell i5, and worked for eight years as Vice-President, Finance, and Controller of Teleglobe. Other firms for which he worked during his career include Télévision Quatre-Saisons, Price Waterhouse, CP Rail and CFCF-12. A chartered accountant by training, Mr. Laurin holds the CFA designation from the CFA Institute. He also earned a graduate diploma in Public Accountancy and a Bachelor of Commerce degree from McGill University.

Michel Lemay joined Transat's management team in 2006. He was previously Vice-President, Corporate and Financial Communications, for a major Canadian public relations firm where for nearly 14 years he counselled the senior management teams of a wide range of corporations and organizations. During this time, he gained widely acknowledged expertise in strategy, reputation management, financial communications and crisis management.

Mr. Lemay is also former Director of Communications for the Montreal Exchange and he also worked for the Montreal Convention Centre, Communications Department. He is a graduate of Université Laval and HEC Montréal and also studied journalism at Université de Montréal. Mr. Lemay sits on the Board of Directors of CyberCap, a non-profit organization that works with dropouts. He is a member of the Canadian Investors Relations Institute (CIRI) and of the Conference Board of Canada's Council of Public Affairs Executives. He represents Transat on the board of the Fédération des chambres de commerce du Québec; he is a member of the Conseil des partenaires de l’industrie touristique, an advisory body to Québec’s Tourism Minister; he is also a director of Tour Operators Initiative for Sustainable Tourism Development in Madrid.

Jean-Luk Pellerin joined Transat's senior management team in May 2007 after several years at the helm of his own consultancy, specializing in the implementation of corporate strategies and organizational change. Mr. Pellerin has also been national partner with Mercer Consultation. Prior to that, Mr. Pellerin served in several senior management positions at General Electric, Domtar and Bombardier, during which he worked in Europe and Asia. As Vice-President, Organizational Development, for Bombardier's Transportation Group, he contributed to several international merger and acquisition projects, gaining extensive knowledge of corporate integration issues.

Mr. Pellerin holds a BA in Industrial Relations from Université Laval and also studied organizational development in the United States. He taught in the MBA program at HEC Montréal, in the Master's program in Organizational Development at American University, and at the McGill International Executive Institute.