JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes — who was liable for the creation of JetBlue Mint and the proposed merger with Spirit Airways — will step down from his position on February 12, 2024, leaving it to the airline’s present president, Joanna Geraghty.
After almost a decade on the helm of JetBlue, the airline’s CEO Robin Hayes is stepping down from the position.
The airline introduced that Hayes will formally retire on February 12, 2024, and can stay in a “strategic advisor place over the approaching months.”
Hayes’ 35-year profession oversaw JetBlue Mint, a takeover of Spirit Airways
The chief spent most of his profession within the airline {industry}, working in airport duty-free retailers and army plane programs earlier than becoming a member of British Airways as a gatekeeper. He would ultimately work his approach up by means of the corporate to government vice chairman of North and South America, assembly his spouse Sue alongside the way in which.
In 2008, Hayes joined JetBlue because the provider’s chief industrial officer, earlier than being promoted to president in 2014. By February 2015, he was formally elevated to the position of CEO, and his newest contract was prolonged till September 2025.
Throughout his tenure with the corporate, Hayes is credited with creating the JetBlue Mint premium cabin, which debuted as a real different to legacy home top notch choices for intercontinental flights. He additionally oversaw the airline’s enlargement into worldwide markets – first to Canada after which to a number of locations in Europe.
Hayes was additionally concerned within the dissolved Northeast Alliance with American Airways, which pledged codeshare flights with the Fort Value-based provider as half of a bigger interconnection settlement focusing on New York and New England. The Justice Division received a case towards the settlement, forcing the 2 airways to cancel the contract. The provider is presently difficult their merger with Spirit Airways – a takeover Hayes has been lively in pulling away from fellow ultra-low-cost provider Frontier Airways.
The CEO says he’s stepping down “on medical recommendation and after speaking with my spouse,” saying he desires to commit extra time to his well being and wellness. In his place, the present president of the airline, Joanna Geraghty, will take over the position. She labored on the airline for almost 20 years, transferring from affiliate basic counsel and director of litigation and regulatory affairs to president in 2018. Geraghty was unanimously voted in by the provider’s board of administrators for the position.
“With a beloved model, an industry-leading buyer expertise, a novel tradition and the most effective crew members within the {industry}, JetBlue has lengthy been a disruptor,” Geraghty stated in a press release. “I am excited to proceed working with JetBlue’s 25,000 crew members who’re as pushed as I’m to problem the established order and convey humanity to an {industry} lengthy dominated by legacy carriers.”
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