Uber appoints Barney Harford as its new COO

Uber Technologies has named former Orbitz CEO Barney Harford as the new COO of the ride-hailing company. Harford will join Uber from January 2, 2018.

1/ Thrilled to be joining @Uber as COO. Looking fwd to working w @dkhos again to help @Uber achieve its full potential https://t.co/gdnXJfFrjS

— Barney Harford (@barneyh) December 20, 2017

Harford who previously worked under Khosrowshahi at Expedia said in a memo to Uber employees, "I have never met a stronger operator or a more thoughtful strategist than Barney."  Harford’s appointment gives Uber another leader with extensive experience in the travel business to help fix the company after a year of scandals under co-founder Travis Kalanick.

Harford, who also sits on airline company United’s board, had been working in an advisory capacity at Uber since October, spending the last few months learning how Uber works and how to improve operations. Harford will now report directly to Khosrowshahi in the new role, making him the second highest-ranking exec at Uber.

At Uber, Harford will be responsible for global operations, marketing and customer support for both the ridesharing business and UberEats.