NEW YORK, NY--(Marketwired - April 29, 2014) - JetBlue Airways (NASDAQ: JBLU) today announced a number of organizational changes as part of a proactive, company-wide organizational realignment designed to enhance operational performance, customer experience and create an overall more efficient airline that is better positioned for the future.
By creating a new, more streamlined reporting structure and new functional ownership for much of JetBlue's senior leadership, the organizational changes, which will be fully implemented in the coming weeks, are designed to improve prioritization, execution and discipline across departments and ensure that the airline is more efficient and better aligned to execute and support its overall strategy.
"Positive change is in JetBlue's DNA. We are constantly evaluating what we can do to improve this airline for our customers, our shareholders, and our crewmembers, and this effort helps us do precisely that," said Dave Barger, CEO JetBlue.
"At the end of the day, this is about building an organization that will help our crewmembers execute better every day and allow us to build on our position as an independent and disruptive force in the industry," said Robin Hayes, President.
As part of the organizational restructure, the following senior leaders will now have expanded functions or new roles at JetBlue:
- Joanna Geraghty has been named Executive Vice President, Customer Experience supporting JetBlue's 12,000 Crewmembers in Inflight, Airports and Customer Support teams, reporting to Robin Hayes. Ms. Geraghty joined JetBlue Airways in March 2005 as Director, Litigation and Regulatory Counsel moving into the Vice President, Associate General Counsel role in 2006. Most recently, Ms. Geraghty was JetBlue's Executive Vice President, Chief People Officer leading JetBlue's human resources functions.
- Jeff Martin, Senior Vice President, Operations, has taken on an expanded role to include leadership of the airline's System Operations Center in addition to his current leadership of Flight Operations and Technical Operations. Mr. Martin, who will be reporting to Robin Hayes, joined JetBlue in April of 2012 after 22 years of service at Southwest Airlines.
- Scott Laurence has been promoted to Senior Vice President, Airline Planning, reporting to Robin Hayes. Mr. Laurence joined the airline in April 2008 as Director, Route Planning, and since 2009 has held the role of Vice President, Network Planning & Industry Partnerships. To ensure greater integration of day-of and long-term planning functions, the following teams will report to Mr. Laurence: Network & Operations Planning, International, Charter Operations, Continuous Improvement, and Industry Partnerships.
- Marty St. George has been named Senior Vice President, Commercial. Mr. St. George joined the airline in July 2006 and held several roles including: Vice President, Planning, and most recently, Senior Vice President, Marketing and Commercial Strategy. In his expanded role, Mr. St. George will oversee Customer Analytics and Sales & Revenue Management in addition to his current leadership of Brand & Advertising, Digital Commerce, Loyalty, and Product Development and continue reporting to Robin Hayes.
- Warren Christie has been promoted to Senior Vice President Regulatory & Training, reporting to Robin Hayes. Mr. Christie joined the airline in March 2003 and has served in various roles including Vice President, JetBlue University, the airline's award-winning training department. Most recently, Mr. Christie has held the Vice President, Operations Planning & Training role since 2012. The following teams will report to Mr. Christie: Safety, Security and JetBlue University.
- Mike Elliott has been promoted to Senior Vice President, People, reporting to Dave Barger. Mr. Elliott joined the airline in October 2010 as Vice President, Crew Relations where he has worked tirelessly to ensure high engagement of Crewmembers and the company's Values Committees. The following teams will report to Mr. Elliott: Compensation & Benefits, Crew Relations, Labor and Talent Management.
- David Clark has been promoted to Vice President, Network Planning and will have responsibility for JetBlue's flight schedule, network optimization and flight profitability. Mr. Clark, who will be reporting to Scott Laurence, joined the airline in May 2009 as Director, Route Planning and is one of the architects of JetBlue's successful expansion in Boston and Latin America. He has served as Director, Schedule Planning since October 2011.
- Tracy Lawlor has been promoted to Vice President, Financial Planning & Analysis. Reporting to Mark Powers, Chief Financial Officer, she will be responsible for short- and long-term forecasting and capital allocation. Ms. Lawlor joined the airline in July 2001 and has held the Director, Financial Planning & Analysis role since 2006.
- In addition to the above organizational changes, Glenn Cusano, JetBlue's former Vice President of Financial Planning & Analysis will be moving to the role of Vice President, Operational Planning & Analysis reporting to Scott Laurence. In this role, Mr. Cusano will work to identify operational efficiencies and manage workforce planning needs throughout the operation.
About JetBlue
JetBlue is New York's Hometown Airline™ and a leading carrier in Boston, Fort Lauderdale/Hollywood, Los Angeles (Long Beach), Orlando and San Juan. JetBlue carries 30 million customers a year to 84 cities in the U.S., Caribbean and Latin America with an average of 825 daily flights. Upcoming destinations include Hyannis, Mass. JetBlue was the first U.S. airline to allow customers to use their personal electronic devices throughout all domestic flights. With JetBlue, all seats are assigned, all fares are one-way, and an overnight stay is never required. For more information please visit www.JetBlue.com.