Des began his career with British Airways in 1970. During 14 years at the airline he held several management positions including Cargo Manager Gulf States and Saudi Arabia in the early ‘80s. In 1984, he established and managed his own forwarding business before joining Air Canada. His next move was to ground handling company Menzies Aviation where he served as Chief Executive at Air Menzies International (AMI) and Managing Director Menzies World Cargo. He was Executive Vice President Cargo for Etihad from April 2007 and, prior to that, Head of Cargo at rival Gulf Air. He retired in 2014 as Global Head of Cargo, IATA.