ABA President & CEO Peter Pantuso
Peter Pantuso, the longtime president and CEO of the American Bus Association (ABA) and president of its research arm, the ABA Foundation, has shared his intention to retire from his position in September 2024. The announcement was made on the association’s website last week.
According to the announcement, Pantuso joined ABA in 1996 as president and CEO, presiding over some of the toughest periods in history for the industry, including 9/11 and the 2008 recession. Among his listed accomplishments: ABA’s membership nearly tripled in size and its annual convention, ABA’s Marketplace, grew to be the leading domestic packaged travel event in the industry during his tenure. He also created the Bus Industry Safety Council and the Bus Maintenance and Repair Council to highlight and promote the highest ethical standards in the bus industry and to increase industry safety, and was instrumental in forming the African American Motorcoach Council, Women in Buses Council, Hispanic Motorcoach Council, Entertainer Motorcoach Council, and the School Bus Council. Pantuso also founded the ABA Foundation, which parses and publishes research and data on the industry and grants scholarships “to promote academic excellence and diversity” in the industry.
“I am honored and grateful to have been given the opportunity to serve ABA and its members. It has been the members’ support, and their trust and belief in me and our staff that has allowed the Association to grow and become the leading organization it is today,” he said, adding, “I am tremendously pleased with the way we have reached out to the industry and developed programs and services during my tenure to enhance our members’ respective business operational, sales, and marketing needs regardless of which segment of the motorcoach, tour or packaged travel industry they were part of. This could not have been accomplished without the dedicated industry leaders and the talented team of professionals on the ABA staff.”
ABA says it will appoint a board-level committee and work with a hiring firm to begin the process of finding his successor. Pantuso adds that he will put “110 percent effort” into leading the association and ultimately guiding the next president and CEO during the transition.
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[02.20.23]