JetBlue CEO Hayes to step down in February

JetBlue Airways Corp. Chief Executive Officer Robin Hayes will step down next month after leading the carrier through a recent failed partnership with one airline and the pending acquisition of another. 

Hayes will be replaced on Feb. 12 by Joanna Geraghty, 51, a nearly 20-year JetBlue veteran who is currently serving as president, the company said in a statement Monday. She will become the first female CEO at JetBlue and the first woman to lead a major US air carrier.

“The extraordinary challenges and pressure of this job have taken their toll, and on the advice of my doctor and after talking to my wife, it’s time I put more focus on my health and well-being,” he said in the statement.

Hayes, 57, has been chief executive since February 2015 and JetBlue’s shares have declined about two-thirds since then as of the close on Monday. The stock rose 1.6% in postmarket trading to $5.85 as of 5:32 p.m. in New York. 

His decision to give up the top job at the airline came at the urging of his doctor, although he doesn’t face an immediate threat, a person familiar with the situation said. The person also said the move was not the result of any board action.

JetBlue declined to make Hayes or Geraghty available for interviews.

The transition comes at a critical time for JetBlue, as it awaits a federal judge’s ruling on whether its pending $3.8 billion takeover of Spirit Airlines Inc. violates antitrust laws and should be blocked. Hayes has been the chief architect of JetBlue’s strategy of pursuing growth through acquisitions as a way of competing more effectively against the four largest carriers that dominate the US industry.

Hayes has been a disrupter in the industry. His decision to wage a bidding war to wrest away Spirit from the hands of would-be suitor Frontier Group Holdings Inc., which had already secured an agreement to merge with the rival deep discounter, is emblematic of Hayes’ bold managerial style. To win over Spirit shareholders in 2022, the JetBlue CEO had to convince them to go against Spirit’s board, which had resisted successively higher bids and added benefits like a special dividend.

But he also suffered a major setback last year with the unwinding of a key partnership JetBlue had formed with American Airlines Group Inc. to increase competitiveness in the New York and Boston areas. A federal judge ruled the so-called Northeast Alliance violated antitrust laws by giving them too much sway over certain flight markets. While American continues to appeal, JetBlue walked away to focus on its acquisition of Spirit.

Hayes had failed in an earlier attempt at buying a partner when Alaska Air Group Inc. outbid him by paying $2.6 billion to acquire Virgin America in 2016. 

The London native became a naturalized US citizen in 2012 and worked at British Airways before joining JetBlue in 2008.

Geraghty became president in June 2018 after holding executive vice president jobs for customer experience and as chief people officer. She helped guide JetBlue through the pandemic as chief operating officer and has been helping to plan for its integration with Spirit should the deal go through. Geraghty also has helped craft a stand-alone plan for JetBlue should the acquisition be blocked, the person familiar with the situation said.