Longtime JetBlue CEO Robin Hayes will retire, the airline introduced Monday, and will probably be succeeded by airline president Joanna Geraghty.
Hayes, who’s 57, will step down efficient Feb 12., the airline stated, citing well being causes.
“I’ve liked working on this business,” Hayes stated in a press release. “Nevertheless, the extraordinary challenges and strain of this job have taken their toll, and on the recommendation of my physician and after speaking to my spouse, it is time I put extra give attention to my well being and well-being.”
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Geraghty, who has been with JetBlue for practically 20 years, would be the first girl to guide a significant U.S. airline.
“I am so happy with what we have achieved during the last 20-plus years, and I’m wanting ahead to constructing on this momentum as we execute on our strategic initiatives, return to worthwhile progress, and generate sustainable worth for our shareholders and all our stakeholders,” Geraghty stated in a press release.
Hayes has helmed the New York-based service since early 2015. He joined the airline in 2008 after working at British Airways as govt vp for the Americas.
Throughout his time on the airline, by way of stints as chief industrial officer, president, and ultimately chief govt, Hayes led the cost to broaden and develop the airline past a small, quirky boutique service. He led the event and enlargement of the airline’s Mint enterprise class product, together with the airline’s first routes to Europe.
He additionally spearheaded efforts to develop the airline by way of partnerships and acquisitions. Below Hayes, JetBlue tried to purchase Virgin America in 2016, however was ultimately outbid by Alaska Airways.
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In 2020, JetBlue and American Airways introduced the Northeast Alliance, a detailed codeshare and frequent flyer partnership that got here to outline the airways’ respective home networks over the following two years. The partnership was challenged by the Department of Justice underneath the Biden Administration and dismantled in 2023 after a judge ruled that it was anti-competitive.
Hayes’ departure comes at an inflection level for the airline because it awaits the choice in one other antitrust trial, difficult its deliberate acquisition of Spirit Airways.
In that case, which was heard in federal District Court in Boston late last year, JetBlue argued that it needed to grow through the merger with a purpose to compete successfully with the “huge 4” airways that dominate 80% of the U.S. market — American, Delta, United and Southwest. By buying Spirit’s plane and workers, JetBlue might successfully double in dimension to turn into the fifth-largest U.S. service.
The DOJ, nevertheless, argued that removing Spirit from the market would trigger the bottom fares to rise. JetBlue and Spirit countered that they might carry median fares down by competing successfully in opposition to the large 4.
JetBlue has not stated what it could do if the merger is blocked.
Whatever the consequence, it will likely be on Geraghty to guide the airline ahead.
Each Hayes and Geraghty collectively introduced the airline by way of the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Geraghty has been actively concerned with the day-to-day operation of the airline, in addition to strategic planning, Hayes stated in a press release.
Lately, the airline has put Geraghty ahead more and more as a face of the airline, tapping her to liaise with media, companions and different stakeholders. She has flown on inaugural flights and engaged with companions on the airline’s transatlantic enlargement, and been arguably extra outspoken than Hayes because the airline started its bid to accumulate Spirit.
Geraghty, 51, started her profession as an legal professional and was a accomplice on the regulation agency Holland & Knight earlier than becoming a member of JetBlue as a lawyer in 2005.
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