Horizon Air Freight Newsletter

Our Chief Commercial Officer, Josh Roman, is a recent addition to Horizon, but spent most of his career in Marine Services / Supply Chain and Logistics, and has fit in seamlessly with our mission and our team, in part because he steadfastly remains solution oriented at all times (critical in work and life). Josh’s experience in our industry has taught him that identifying problems and seeing roadblocks ahead may be easy work, but it’s what you do with them that makes you stand out.

About his work, Josh says: “I enjoy being able to remove a burden from a customer’s plate. Everyone faces challenges, but a true partnership is when you can rely on your partners for solutions. Having the confidence in our excellent team to be able to say to a client, ‘We’ve got it handled,’ so they can go home is a privilege.”

A native of Oakland, CA, Josh continues to represent Horizon Air Freight on the West coast where he currently resides in Long Beach, CA with his wife and their two huskies. As a child, he also lived in Germany for a short time, which gave him a passion for traveling as well as German food and beer. You’re also likely to find him playing ice hockey, when he’s not in the office.

Bridget is Senior Account Manager at Horizon Air Freight, whose 30 years of combined experience in the transportation industry have taught her to treat every shipment as though it is the most important one. She excels at guiding customers through every step of the shipment process, and recently navigated a complicated 125,000 kilo shipment from Japan to South Korea in only 10 days.

About her work, Bridget says her favorite part is getting to learn so much from our customers about their different cultures all over the world.

A native New Yorker, Bridget currently resides in Long Island, NY. Outside of work, she enjoys Broadway shows, boating, and traveling with her family.

Sheryl is Director of Technology and Engineering, whose extensive education and experience is helping her lead the digital transformation at the company. Though relatively new to the Horizon team, her creative solutions and desire to not only maintain, but improve, the premium level of client service we can provide is already separating Horizon from the competition

About working at Horizon, Sheryl says: “When I joined in 2021, I knew that I was entering a space where technology had not yet caught up to the needs of the industry – and I knew that I could help bring about real change to offset that deficit.”

Outside of work, Sheryl is a fan of traveling, video games, creating costumes, reading, and dance.

Alex is Director of Cruise Operations at Horizon Air Freight, where his long history at Horizon — which includes three years in operations and twelve years as Director of Global Sales — come together to serve the unique technical and hospitality needs of cruise ships worldwide. Recognizing a need in the cruise industry for more reliable, cost-effective support, Alex led creation of this new division of Horizon’s services.

An entrepreneur at heart, Alex is always on the lookout for challenging problems Horizon can solve and new opportunities Horizon can offer to support the success of our current and future customers.

A native New Yorker, Alex enjoys athletics. He has served as a volunteer basketball coach for the past nine years, and he raises funds for cancer research and patient support through Swim Across America.

James “Jimmy” Gassert is Executive Vice President at Horizon Air Freight, and has spent his 40 year career in our offices. He is deeply dedicated to satisfying and exceeding customer expectations by solving not just the daily — but the difficult.

Jimmy’s favorite part of work is leaving each day knowing that all known issues will be solved, whether that’s at 5:00 PM or 10:00 PM. He is a beloved and dedicated team player, who finds his own success in aiding the success of others.

A native resident of Long Island, Jimmy is an avid music fan of all genres, and serves in the energizing role of our “unofficially official” office DJ. Outside of work, he’s also a classic car enthusiast (his favorite is the 1960’s Lincoln Continental from the 1960’s with the suicide doors), and provides his handyman skills for friends and family.

Pixie Gibbs is the Export Manager at Horizon Air Freight, and has been dedicated to our customers for over 28 years. Recently she played an essential role in coordinating an urgently-needed spares delivery from Louisiana, Missouri, and Florida to a ship stuck in Panamanian dry dock. She is an expert at continual communication, who truly enjoys interacting with our customers to fully understand beyond their most immediate problems.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Pixie’s favorite part of her work is moving around the office and warehouse, touching every critical aspect of the shipments she handles. It’s part of what helps her do the absolute best for our customers each day.

A native of Trinidad and Tabago, Pixie currently lives in Queens, NYC. Outside of work, she enjoys running and biking — when she isn’t planning and enjoying family get-togethers. If your birthday’s coming, Pixie is also the one to help celebrate, as those are her favorite.

Alex Leondis is Business and Data Analytics Manager at Horizon Air Freight, who uses his background in finance to drive Horizon’s business forward. He continually challenges our team and himself to bring added insight and optimized decision making to our customer daily logistics needs.

Alex’s favorite part of his work is solving the unique questions, challenges and requests from customers utilizing data, while helping them harness the power of information. He thrives when partnering with each client to bring a unique value to their individual needs.

A native New Yorker, Alex is the grandson of Horizon’s founder Anthony Leondis. He’s also a former NCAA soccer player, who still loves the sport as much as ever. Outside of work, he also enjoys traveling both the United States and other countries of the world, and is an avid supporter of charitable endeavors.

Vero joined Horizon Air Freight as the previous Executive Manager of Delver Agents, and Founder and General Manager of Sealand Ship Agents and Suppliers. Now serving as Operations Executive at Horizon Air Freight, Vero grew Sealand into the premiere cruise ship agency and supplier based in Ushuaia, Argentina. She excels at creating new services and programs, solving problems, connecting people, and strengthening relationships. Her clients have included some of the most exclusive boutique operators, mainstream cruise lines and expedition cruise companies in the world.

Vero received her Bachelor’s degree in Natural Science & Human Arts, and her advanced technical law degree from Argentinian Catholic University. She also has a licensed degree in International Commerce, and is trained in Environmental Management and the International Ship and Port Facility Security Code.

About her work, Vero says: “My favorite part is being able to learn from our clients, develop and implement solutions, grow our businesses together, and make a difference in their day by giving them the highest level of service and proving our dedication to meet their goals and deliver superior results. I also cherish knowing that the business our clients do with us will make a positive impact in the communities we work in; they will provide jobs and income to our vendors, as well as our staff and all of those that are touched by our operations.”

Vero currently lives in Seattle, WA with her husband and three children: big huggers who love to travel together.

Dave Rector serves as Chief Financial Officer at Horizon Air Freight, where his expertise at developing talent and teams across the organization has already proven to be vital to our success.

Dave’s favorite part of working with our clients is meeting their emergency shipment needs. About his work, he says: “In the Finance and Accounting departments, we aim to provide the same level of service to our internal clients as we do external ones . . . And we throw in a smile for free!”

Originally from Newport, RI, Dave currently resides in Ridgefield, CT with his wife of 26 years, Kim. He is also the proud father of two college-aged children. Outside of work he enjoys travel with the family, golf with his wife, yoga, cycling, and Beer League Hockey.

George Savich joined Horizon Air Freight as a self-described “Hustler” with a combined education from military high school, an associate’s degree in Surveying, Construction Engineering and Drafting from Alfred University, and his stint as a semi pro soccer player. He began at Horizon in 1987 as a messenger, truck driver, and warehouseman, but has worked as Domestic Manager in our Import Department for the last 23 years.

George’s long years of experience at Horizon have taught him to improvise, adapt, and overcome in order to deliver excellence in every shipment, every day. He is a relentless problem solver who not only believes in but embodies the idea that “Failure is not an option.” His favorite part about working with our clients is providing them with trust and top tier service.

Proudly hailing from Queens, NY, George currently resides there with his wife of 27 years, Anne, and is the proud father of Paul who is a professional musician. George and Anne also share their home with a dog, two cats, and a parrot whom George insists will outlive him.

Rosemarie is Executive Vice President at Horizon Air Freight — an essential pillar who has served with us in Logistics for her entire career of 38 years. Her decades of service have given her the opportunity to see every department and angle, and she is an invaluable teacher who generously shares the lessons of her extensive experience with others.

About her work, Rosemarie says that finding solutions and delivering results when the circumstances dictate it to be difficult or impossible is one of her favorite parts. She is also adept at discovering new solutions and developing them into services to help our customers succeed in all things logistics. Continually challenging our team and herself to bring added insight and optimized decision making to our customers’ daily logistics requirements, Rose is an invaluable partner who looks to bring a unique value to every customer’s individual needs.

A native resident of Long Island, Rose is a mother of two. Though spare time is hard to come by in Logistics, outside of work she does enjoy music, long beach walks, and hiking — so long as there are no bugs around.

Steve is Horizon Air Freight’s CEO, a position he took on in 2014 after 31 years in various roles that included everything from loading trucks to leading the growth of Horizon’s foreign agencies network, allowing Horizon to offer truly global marine logistics support to all our customers. A lifelong student of world history, he brings an international perspective and a long-term view to the shipping industry’s importance in the evolution of the human condition.

Leading the company his father founded more than 50 years ago, Steve appreciates the family atmosphere Horizon has nurtured and preserved even as our global operations grow by leaps and bounds. He enjoys both his decades-long relationships with veteran Horizon leaders and the fresh ideas and energy brought by our newest generation of team members.

A star college basketball player while at Yale University — he was named Ivy League Rookie of the Year in 1980 — Steve majored in history, with a particular interest in the period of European history between World War I and World War II.

With his daughter Devon, Steve co-founded and sits on the board of Project Nyame Nsa, an organization dedicated to building villages with holistic support services for vulnerable and orphaned children in remote areas of Ghana and Zambia.