Spirit Airlines Names Next CEO as It Tries to Fix Old Problems
Skift Take
The last time Spirit Airlines replaced its CEO, it bungled the public messaging. It's not letting that happen this time. Investors are getting more than one year of advance warning.
When Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza left abruptly in January 2016, as the airline struggled with on-term performance woes and customer service issues, the carrier's public relations team tried to spin his departure like it had been planned all along.
That may have been true, but investors still were surprised, with Baldanza out one day, and the new CEO, Robert Fornaro, in almost the next. Spirit officials never said why Baldanza left, other than mentioning his family had moved to the Washington, D.C.-area.
For the next leadership change, Spirit is taking no chances with its messaging. On Wednesday, Spirit said its CFO, Ted Christie, will be named the airline's president on Jan. 1, and will become chief executive one yea
