Travelport GDS vice president of sales for Europe David Brown died on Saturday morning at a hospital in Windsor after a long battle with cancer. He was 58 years old.
 
Brown was a larger than life character and a very well known figure in the travel industry in both the UK and in the US. Travelport GDS president and CEO Gordon Wilson led industry tributes.
 
“David was not only an industry icon but also a close colleague, mentor and friend to so many people, both within Travelport and in the wider travel community,” he said. “He touched so many people’s lives in such a positive way with his spirit, his counsel and his support.  David throughout his long battle with his illness, demonstrated such courage, self belief and a positive attitude that so captured his life that it was an honour to know him.  He will be sorely missed.”
 
Brown was a native of the state of Ohio but grew up mainly in the San Francisco bay area, where he graduated from the University of California at Santa Barbara in 1973. Early in his career, he held a number of reservations and operational positions at United Airlines before being promoted to area sales manager in Los Angeles and then in San Francisco. 
 
He later left United to be the vice president of sales and operations for Westair, a regional carrier based in Fesno, California. Brown moved to the UK in 1994 to assume the position as managing director for sales & service for Sabre. In late 2005, he joined Cendant as the vice president of sales and operations for GTA and later moved to the position of vice president of sales in Europe for Travelport GDS.