CEO of Spirit Airlines Abruptly Replaced
- Thread starter HRDiva
- Start date
HRDiva
Well-Known Member
No clue; don't know much about the replacement but @ATN_Pilot may !
JOEFRIDAY2
Well-Known Member
The board wasn't happy.
That is usually a money issue.
The guy replacing him was the President of Air Tran.
Hopefully he will cancel the rest of the orders to make the planes look like ugly yellow cabs.
That is usually a money issue.
The guy replacing him was the President of Air Tran.
Hopefully he will cancel the rest of the orders to make the planes look like ugly yellow cabs.
Cruise
Well-Known Member
Ding ding ding, we have a winner! Every airline he's ever worked for is out of business. Hello Spirit of Frontier! Or is Frontier's Spirit?
Last edited:
HRDiva
Well-Known Member
Well that's a nice thing to say.
Mike Wise
#NewSchool
http://abcnews.go.com/Business/wire...eo-spirit-airlines-abruptly-replaced-36096571
Ben Baldanza, who led the industry push for more and more airline fees, is out as CEO of Spirit Airlines.
Spirit was losing money until Baldanza, 54, took over in 2006. He oversaw the airline's transformation into an "ultra-low cost carrier," an airline that didn't include anything in its base fare and charged extra for seat assignments, snacks, soda, boarding passes and even using the overhead bin. To cram more people into its jets, Baldanza stripped passengers of the ability to recline their seats. He spun the move as making the seats "pre-reclined."
Known for his brash, no-excuses style, Baldanza said that if people didn't like the fees, they could fly another airline.
Baldanza at times reveled in the animosity that he helped to generate. Taped to the side of a corner bookshelf in his office was an expletive laden email from one disgruntled traveler that, in part, read: "I just want to let you know that your company sucks and your policy will run it into the ground."
Baldanza's over-the-top style often carried over into the airline's ads.
When former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner admitted to sending lewd photos to women, the airline launched "The Weiner Sale: With Fares Too HARD to Resist." The airline once hired bikini-clad pole-dancers to drive around Los Angeles with a sign saying: "You can take me home for $9."
For many, Spirit's prices are irresistible. For those who play the game right, sit in the middle seat and bring very little luggage, the savings are substantial. That has helped the airline become one of the nation's fastest-growing and most-profitable carriers. It now has 375 daily flights to 56 destinations in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the past year, the amount of available seats has grown by 34 percent. But passenger revenues haven't kept up, growing less than 1 percent, as other airlines also created their own structure of fees, which are no longer a novelty.
Shares of Spirit Airlines Inc. have been cut in half over the past year.
"Following the tremendous growth and success of Spirit over the last 10 years, the board and I have concluded that this is the right time to implement an orderly succession plan," Baldanza said in a printed statement released by the Miramar, Florida airline.
Robert L. Fornaro, who led discount carrier AirTran before its sale to Southwest Airlines, will take over as CEO immediately.
Baldanza, who moved his family to Florida from the Washington D.C. suburbs to head Spirit, has recently moved back north, according to the airline.
Fornaro was appointed to the Spirit board of directors in May 2014. He served as CEO of AirTran Holdings Inc. from November 2007 until the company's sale to Southwest in May 2011. He has also served as senior vice president of planning for US Airways and as senior vice president of marketing planning at Northwest Airlines.
Ben Baldanza, who led the industry push for more and more airline fees, is out as CEO of Spirit Airlines.
Spirit was losing money until Baldanza, 54, took over in 2006. He oversaw the airline's transformation into an "ultra-low cost carrier," an airline that didn't include anything in its base fare and charged extra for seat assignments, snacks, soda, boarding passes and even using the overhead bin. To cram more people into its jets, Baldanza stripped passengers of the ability to recline their seats. He spun the move as making the seats "pre-reclined."
Known for his brash, no-excuses style, Baldanza said that if people didn't like the fees, they could fly another airline.
Baldanza at times reveled in the animosity that he helped to generate. Taped to the side of a corner bookshelf in his office was an expletive laden email from one disgruntled traveler that, in part, read: "I just want to let you know that your company sucks and your policy will run it into the ground."
Baldanza's over-the-top style often carried over into the airline's ads.
When former U.S. Rep. Anthony Weiner admitted to sending lewd photos to women, the airline launched "The Weiner Sale: With Fares Too HARD to Resist." The airline once hired bikini-clad pole-dancers to drive around Los Angeles with a sign saying: "You can take me home for $9."
For many, Spirit's prices are irresistible. For those who play the game right, sit in the middle seat and bring very little luggage, the savings are substantial. That has helped the airline become one of the nation's fastest-growing and most-profitable carriers. It now has 375 daily flights to 56 destinations in the U.S., Latin America and the Caribbean.
In the past year, the amount of available seats has grown by 34 percent. But passenger revenues haven't kept up, growing less than 1 percent, as other airlines also created their own structure of fees, which are no longer a novelty.
Shares of Spirit Airlines Inc. have been cut in half over the past year.
"Following the tremendous growth and success of Spirit over the last 10 years, the board and I have concluded that this is the right time to implement an orderly succession plan," Baldanza said in a printed statement released by the Miramar, Florida airline.
Robert L. Fornaro, who led discount carrier AirTran before its sale to Southwest Airlines, will take over as CEO immediately.
Baldanza, who moved his family to Florida from the Washington D.C. suburbs to head Spirit, has recently moved back north, according to the airline.
Fornaro was appointed to the Spirit board of directors in May 2014. He served as CEO of AirTran Holdings Inc. from November 2007 until the company's sale to Southwest in May 2011. He has also served as senior vice president of planning for US Airways and as senior vice president of marketing planning at Northwest Airlines.
wheelsup
Well-Known Member
He was the guy at Airways that implemented their FLL Caribbean flying expansion. It was a massive failure not because of Airways doing but because the airport just wasn't set up to handle it. It's interesting where Airways would've gone had he been successful at that venture.
The network carriers can match Spirit/Frontier pricing right now, because fuel is low and they are small. When Parker came out and said he had a "Spirit problem" and would match fares dollar for dollar their stock starting tanking. Keep in mind Spirit and Frontier have unit costs almost exactly HALF of the network carriers. The network carriers are losing money matching their fares yet the ULCC's are still making obscene profit margins off those fares! That is something people don't get.
Recently I read an article that showed of the top 10-ish airports where Spirit competes, revenues are down 25%-40%. The top four? DFW, ORD, LAX, and one other of AA's hubs that I've forgotten. They are a thorn in AA's side.
Personally, I loved the scrappy mentality of the company, it was one of the three places I applied. Never got a call though.
The network carriers can match Spirit/Frontier pricing right now, because fuel is low and they are small. When Parker came out and said he had a "Spirit problem" and would match fares dollar for dollar their stock starting tanking. Keep in mind Spirit and Frontier have unit costs almost exactly HALF of the network carriers. The network carriers are losing money matching their fares yet the ULCC's are still making obscene profit margins off those fares! That is something people don't get.
Recently I read an article that showed of the top 10-ish airports where Spirit competes, revenues are down 25%-40%. The top four? DFW, ORD, LAX, and one other of AA's hubs that I've forgotten. They are a thorn in AA's side.
Personally, I loved the scrappy mentality of the company, it was one of the three places I applied. Never got a call though.
nagylyk
Well-Known Member
SWA used to advertise "We don't fly those little bitty airplanes" (Taking shots at the outsourcing the legacies do), but now they advertise "transfarency" (a direct shot at the ULCC's).
Definitely a change in who they view as their biggest competition for their business.
ZapBrannigan
If it ain’t a Boeing, I’m not going. No choice.
If true, and I have no reason to believe it's not, I wouldn't be surprised to see SW aggressively pursue an acquisition of one or the other - spirit most likely because they already have a big share in the Caribbean and Central America where SW has indicated a desire to grow.
I don't think they can remain a 737 carrier forever. One AD that grounds the type would shut down the company. That can't be acceptable to the bean counters.
mastermags
Well-Known Member *giggity*
Couldn't the same case be made for Spirit, Frontier, Alaska, Virgin America, etc. etc.
The Juice
Well-Known Member
I think Zap was making more of a point regarding SWA buying a non 737 fleet and keeping the non 737 aircraft is a possibility in the future.