DIRECTORS:
Darren Bott (Emirates Airline)
Mike Henny (Delta Air Lines, Inc.)
Dirk Kleer (LSG Sky Chefs)
Vanessa Lindstrom (United Airlines)

2021-22 IFSA Board of Directors Slate of Candidates

Darren Bott
Vice President Catering – Global Food & Beverage
Emirates Airline ‎

Darren is a qualified Chef who has been working in the food and hospitality industry for 30 years. After graduating from the North Oxford Technical College, Darren spent most of his early career cooking at some of the finest restaurants throughout the UK and France.

Prior to moving to Dubai, Darren worked with Qantas Flight Catering in Australia. During Darren’s time with Qantas he was involved in a number of key projects and was an instrumental member of the Qantas/Rockpool product launch team.  Darren was also a key member of the opening team at the Qantas food manufacturing facility, Snap Fresh, located in Brisbane.

Darren joined Emirates Flight Catering in 2004 as Vice President and played a pivotal role in the design, construction, commissioning and successful startup of the Emirates Flight Catering, Food Point facility.

Darren is a talented Chef and an experienced leader and in his current role of Vice President Catering – Global Food & Beverage he has responsibility for the overall management of the Emirates Airline on board and premium class lounge food and beverage offering.

Darren is an avid fitness junkie who enjoys running and generally keeping fit. Darren is married and has two teenage daughters and resides in Dubai with his family.

Mike Henny
Managing Director of On-Board Service
Delta Air Lines, Inc. ‎

Mike Henny is the Managing Director of On-Board Service at Delta Air Lines.  In this role, Mike manages Delta’s onboard food and beverage programs, leading the strategy behind meals, snacks, beverages and customer-facing products across all cabins. Mike and his team focus on supporting safety, driving efficiency and boosting customer satisfaction through these programs.

Throughout the past decade, Mike has filled various roles in Delta’s Global Sales and Customer Experience & Loyalty divisions, where he has helped expand our global reach and enhance the onboard and overall customer experience.

Prior to joining OBS, Mike was seconded to Virgin Atlantic, where he served as the head of Global Sales Development. In this role, he and his team focused on growing corporate and agency sales, as well as marketing and new business development. Prior to that, he was the Director of SME Strategy, Global Sales in Atlanta, where he and his team managed a portfolio of corporate accounts and led the strategy for Delta’s SkyBonus program.

Prior to his time in Global Sales, Mike was Director of Customer Experience, partnering with In-Flight, Airport Customer Service, and Tech Ops to implement various onboard and airport upgrades, including aircraft interiors, in-flight entertainment, Wi-Fi, the craft beer program and Starbucks launch, just to name a few. He also filled roles as the General Manager – SkyMiles Medallion Program & Customer Analytics and as the Manager of On-Board Media.

Mike attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he earned bachelor’s degrees in both Economics and International Studies. He completed his MBA at the University of California–Berkeley.

Dirk Kleer
Director, Sales
LSG Sky Chefs ‎

My career in the airline industry started in 1988 and I worked in DUS between 1988 and 1995. In 1995 I took a break from the industry and had my own restaurant in Stellenbosch, South Africa, till 2000. From 2000 till 2002 I worked for LTC Catering in Duesseldorf before re-joining LSG Group again in 2002 responsible for Sales at the Frozen Food Facility in Alzey. After successfully started the newly build frozen food facilities in PIT and Qingdao ( China ) joined the sales team for the LSG Group out of JFK with responsibility for International customers. Was on the Board of Directors of ITCA for several years. I worked for LSG in several leadership roles throughout my career in DUS, FRA, PIT and Alzey.

Vanessa Lindstrom
Director – Food Safety and Regulatory Compliance
United Airlines

Vanessa Lindstrom is a food Safety professional with over 30 years global experience working in India, Australia and the US within the pharmaceutical, beverage and food industry. She has a Master of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Mumbai and in addition has certification in Laboratory Management, FSSC 22000 Lead Auditor, HACCP, Seafood HACCP and PCQI.

Positions held recently in the food and beverage industry:

• Technical Manager Victoria and Tasmania– Coca-Cola Amatil in Melbourne, Australia
• Quality and Food Safety Manager – Coca-Cola Refreshments in San Leandro California
• Operations Manager – Coca-Cola Refreshments in San Leandro California
• Director of Food Safety and Quality Assurance – Ghirardelli Chocolate Company
• Sr. Food Safety Manager– United Airlines