Sebastiaan Scholte was born in 1970 in Groningen, the Netherlands. After studying Economics and Business Administration at the Rotterdam College, he started his cargo aviation career in 1997, working in Mexico City for Aeromexpress, the cargo division of Aeromexico and Mexicana.
From 1998, he was based in Madrid as VP Europe. Based in Mexico City from 2000, he was promoted to VP Sales, Mexico and Central America, In 2002, Sebastiaan joined Cargolux Airlines in Sao Paulo as Regional Manager, Latin America. After successfully restructuring the department, he became Cargolux’ Regional Business Development Manager, Spain and Portugal in 2004.
Between 2006 and 2010 Sebastiaan was Head of Marketing & Special Projects, based at Cargolux’ headquarters in Luxembourg. In April 2010 he was appointed CEO of Jan de Rijk Logistics, based in Roosendaal the Netherlands and in May 2012 was appointed Chairman of the Cool Chain Association. In 2013, he joined the board of TIACA, where he was elected Vice Chairman in April 2015 and Chairman in 2017 until 2019.
He currently is the CEO of Kales Group since 2020 and a senior advisor for Boston Consulting Group since October 2020.
What was your dream job as a child?
In my teenage years I wanted to become a stock broker.
What’s the biggest change you’ve seen in the industry?
Compliance has become a lot more prominent and important after the financial crisis of 2008.
What’s the most unusual thing you’ve ever shipped?
Dolphins.
What’s one buzzword you secretly dislike?
There is actually not a buzzword I dislike.
Window or aisle seat?
Aisle.
What’s the best business lesson you’ve learned the hard way?
Not to trust everyone.
If you could swap jobs with anyone for a day, who would it be?
I would not mind to see how it would feel to be the President of the USA.
Which three items would you bring to a desert island?
A book, sufboard and sun lotion.
Tea or coffee?
Tea.
What’s your guilty pleasure TV show or movie?
Into the wild.
What’s the most exciting place you’ve visited for work?
There are fortunately many, but if I have to choose one: Puerto Montt in Chile.
If you could introduce one new regulation in air cargo, what would it be?
Standardization in ground ops between handling and trucking.
What’s your go-to karaoke song?
Piano man billy joel.
Describe your job in three words
Exiting energetic and challenging.
What’s your hidden talent?
Windsurfing.
If you could instantly master one skill, what would it be?
Play the guitar.
What’s something on your bucket list?
Windsurf across the English channel.
What’s the best airport in the world, and why?
Singapore: Efficient and great food.
If air cargo had a mascot, what would it be?
Chameleon: Adapting easily to a changing outside environment.
How did you get into airfreight/logistics?
After finishing my studies I wanted to work and live in Mexico. Through a contact I started to work at Aeromexico cargo.
What quote has most resonated with you?
Kites rise highest against the wind, not with it.
What’s the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?
I have gotten a lot of good advice from many great people. When I was young I had my first job interview. I had done my internship in Mexico and they asked me to sell Mexico. So I asked first whether for business or tourism. When they said tourism, I started talking about the beaches, culture, nature, history etc. They stopped me after one minute and told me that I asked the right question in the beginning because they were only interested in tourism, however they only wanted to know about beaches, and I had talked a lot about other aspects of Mexico. A wise lesson I learned there that sales is not talking but active listening (and asking the right questions).
What is the most adventurous thing you have ever done?
The most recent one was swimming from Asia to Europe across the Bosphorus.
If you could have dinner with any three people, living or dead, who would it be and why?
My two daughters and wife.
