Boeing has confirmed the Celso Ferrer Boeing appointment as its new president for Latin America and the Caribbean, drawing the outgoing chief executive of Brazilian carrier GOL Linhas Aéreas into a senior regional leadership position with effect from 4 September 2026.
Boeing announced the hire on 13 August 2026. Ferrer joined GOL in 2004 as an intern and has served as its chief executive for the past four years, having also held the roles of Chief Operating Officer and Vice President of Planning during his tenure at the Abra Group-owned airline.
Celso Ferrer Boeing Appointment: The Role Ahead
Boeing said Ferrer will be ‘responsible for strengthening Boeing’s operations, strategy, and presence across the region’ and supporting growth opportunities throughout Latin America and the Caribbean. The brief positions him as the manufacturer’s principal point of engagement across a market that spans multiple fleet-renewal programmes and a range of competitive pressures from Airbus.
Dr Brendan Nelson AO, President of Boeing Global, framed the appointment in terms of Ferrer’s sector track record. ‘Celso brings exceptional experience, leadership skills and expertise to this role,’ Nelson said. ‘With more than 20 years of experience in the aviation industry, Celso is the right person to address the opportunities and challenges this dynamic and important region presents for Boeing.’
Ferrer, who according to GOL holds type ratings for the Boeing 737-700, Boeing 737-800 Next Generation, and Boeing 737-8 Max, struck an expansive note on the move. ‘It is a great pleasure and, at the same time, a privilege to have the opportunity to join Boeing during a period of expansion in such a dynamic region as Latin America,’ he said. ‘I’m honored by the trust the company has placed in me and look forward with enthusiasm to the challenges and opportunities ahead in this new chapter of my career.’
GOL Leadership Reshuffle Follows Ferrer’s Departure
Ferrer’s exit triggers a significant reshuffle at GOL. According to Abra Group, he will formally step down as GOL’s chief executive on 31 August 2026, four days before he joins Boeing. André Fehlauer will succeed him as GOL’s new Chief Executive Officer, effective September 2026. Albert Perez, currently GOL’s Chief Operating Officer, will take on additional responsibilities as President and COO of the airline alongside Fehlauer’s appointment.
The dual announcement from Abra Group underlines the scale of the transition at GOL, with the airline managing both a chief executive handover and a restructured executive layer at the same time as it navigates its own operational and financial challenges.
Ferrer’s move to Boeing also completes a regional leadership cycle for the manufacturer. His predecessor in the Latin America and Caribbean role, Landon Loomis, moved to the position of president of Boeing China in October 2025, suggesting Boeing is rotating experienced regional operators through its most commercially contested geographies.
For Boeing, bringing in a figure with deep carrier-side experience in Latin America carries a clear commercial rationale. The region’s low-cost sector in particular has been a strong driver of narrowbody demand, with the 737 Max central to fleet plans across several carriers. Having a regional president who holds type ratings on those very aircraft, and who has spent two decades on the airline side of fleet decisions, gives Boeing an operationally credible interlocutor as it competes for order share against Airbus.
Ferrer is due to take up the Boeing role on 4 September 2026, the same month Fehlauer formally assumes the GOL chief executive position.
