Uber names ex-Orbitz executive as COO

Uber Technologies on Wednesday named the former chief executive of Orbitz to be its chief operating officer, second-in-command to new CEO Dara Khosrowshahi, who has been revamping the leadership group in hopes of turning around the ride provider and preparing for an initial public offering.

Barney Harford, who was CEO of online travel service Orbitz Worldwide Inc, will join Uber on Jan. 2 and will be tasked with overseeing global ride-hailing operations, marketing, customer support and the food delivery business.

A familiar face at Uber, he been an adviser since October, Khosrowshahi said in an email to employees.

With Khosrowshahi flying to Europe and South America to address regulatory issues, Harford will have an important role in Uber's day-to-day business. He also must help figure out how to turn a profit at Uber, where the loss widened to $1.46 billion in the third quarter from $1.06 billion the previous quarter.

Harford is Uber's first COO and Khosrowshahi's second significant hire after General Counsel Tony West joined in October from PepsiCo.

Khosrowshahi is under pressure to establish a leadership team capable of changing the toxic and rule-flouting corporate culture that developed under co-founder and former-CEO Travis Kalanick.

Khosrowshahi, who replaced Kalanick in August, has vowed to usher in a new era at Uber after a string of scandals led to the departure of many executives. These included allegations of sexual harassment, data privacy violations, a lawsuit alleging trade-secrets theft that is headed for trial in February, and criminal probes involving possible bribes paid overseas and a scheme to evade regulators.

Uber's board of directors has agreed to take the company public in 2019.