Longtime Spirit Airlines CEO Ted Christie left the company on April 7th, resigning from his role as CEO to navigate the company's overhaul aimed at incurring financial losses.
The Florida-based airline announced Christie's departure on April 7, saying Matthew Klein has resigned as Spirit's chief commercial officer.
“On behalf of the board and spirit team, I appreciate Ted's tireless efforts over the 13 years he has had with the company,” says Spirit Chair Robert Milton.
“He saw a lot here and did a lot during his tenure here. This includes navigating the company through community crisis and multiple strategic points, and more recently through corporate restructuring. Ted kept the company together through challenging times.”
Spirit's board of directors temporarily assigned CEO duties to three executives. Chief Operating Officer John Bendratis, Chief Financial Officer Fred Cromer and Advisor Thomas Canfield.
The board is searching for new CEOs.
According to Spirit, the board and Christie say they have reached a “segregation and release agreement” in which the former CEO receives retirement benefits and benefits.
The company says Spirit's Chief Transformation Officer Lana Ghosh has taken over Klein as the top commercial officer.
“We would like to thank Matt for his many contributions since he arrived in 2016. We all hope he is the best,” adds Milton. “We are also keen to welcome Lana into his new role.”
Christie weathered roughly over a few years with Spirit.
In 2022, he supported plans to acquire the airline by Frontier Airlines. However, the deal collapsed after JetBlue Airways was swept by its own acquisition offer. JetBlue provided more money, but Christie supported the frontier deal and warned that US officials might not approve JetBlue's acquisition.
JetBlue ultimately won, but federal courts pleaded to block JetBlue's acquisition on grounds that violated antitrust laws. The federal judge sided with the government and gave up the deal.
Meanwhile, Spirit struggled financially and entered the protection of the Bankruptcy Court. It came out of that process in March.
Spirit lost $1.2 billion in 2024.
