American Airlines chief commercial officer Vasu Raja will depart the airline in June. 

Raja has been the leading architect of American’s strategy to de-emphasize travel agency bookings. 

In an announcement on Tuesday, American didn’t say why Raja is stepping aside. He’ll be replaced on an interim basis by vice chairman and chief strategy officer Stephen Johnson, who will help with the search for Raja’s replacement. 

Raja’s departure comes on the heels of speculation about his future at American while he has been on leave from in-office assignments for the past few weeks. 

However, just last week American told The Airline Observer that Raja would be remaining with the airline. 

American appointed Raja chief commercial officer in April 2022. In February 2023, he also partially assumed the day-to-day duties of chief customer officer Alison Taylor, who retired. 

Since that time, American has pushed forward aggressively with a strategy geared to driving a larger share of its bookings into direct or NDC-enabled channels and away from the legacy GDSs preferred by most travel agencies. 

With Raja as the strategy’s most outspoken backer, American over the past 13 months has removed most of its fare content from legacy GDSs and has implemented or announced a series of measures geared toward rewarding direct bookings with the airline — especially for members of the AAdvantage loyalty program. 

While American says the moves have reduced distribution costs, Raja found himself on the defensive during the carrier’s Q1 earnings call in April because American’s share of corporate bookings appears to be on the decline.

Delta and United each reported first-quarter corporate growth rates of 14% year over year, and Southwest said it continued to gain corporate market share. Raja said American’s managed corporate sales were up in the mid to high single digits.

In the same regulatory filing in which American reported Raja’s departure, the airline adjusted its financial guidance downward for the second quarter.