After 21 years with CFI, Ryan Kuehlewind has decided to retire from the air cargo business. Those 21 years don’t include the many hours he spent during his high school years working in our Los Angeles warehouse loading LD3 and LD7s for his father. When Ryan started full-time with the company on August 12th, 2001, he worked a wide variety of roles in his early days, getting to know the people and understanding the many facets of the perishable forwarding business.
He eventually moved to Seattle, where he gained a great awareness of domestic air freight and seafood operations. Flourishing in the Pacific Northwest, Ryan expanded his horizons as he got to know CFI teams in new areas, increasing his expertise of how the individual stations work as a single unit and fit into the big picture of CFI as a whole. His unique leadership style looked at the industry and understood how interconnected each shipment is, even when it’s not instantly noticeable.
On his return to Los Angeles, he balanced running both the LAX facility and the domestic/import departments. He eventually added Hawaii and later SFO as he became the Regional Operational Manager. A true five-tool player, Ryan balanced not just operations, his people, our vendors, and the customers but also included business development as he invested in the strong relationships that CFI is known for.
He has a passion for life, customers, vendors, and the people of CFI. Always willing to go that extra mile, his ability to find and solve a problem and help others learn from the situation is exceptional. As hours blended into days, weeks into months, his tireless work ethic was inspiring. Please join me in thanking Ryan for his service. We wish him the best of luck in this new chapter, as he spends more time with his wife Sulia, and sons Henrik and Clayton.
Christopher Connell
Ryan, you will be missed, but your passion and dedication will always be a part of who we are as a company.
Sr. Vice President, Perishables
