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JetBlue announced the appointment of Marty St. George as its next president, effective February 26, 2024. He will report to Joanna Geraghty, JetBlue’s current president and incoming chief executive officer.
Since 2020, St. George has served as chief commercial officer at LATAM Airlines Group, Latin America’s largest airline holding company, in Santiago, Chile. Before joining LATAM, he operated an airline strategy consulting practice, where he served airline and travel industry clients, including a role as interim Chief Commercial Officer at Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA. He previously served as JetBlue’s leadership team member from 2006 to 2019.
Over 13 years with JetBlue – beginning as vice president of planning, later senior vice president of marketing and commercial, and ultimately executive vice president and chief commercial officer – St. George was a key architect of the carrier’s focus city strategy, led its successful entry into airline partnerships, and oversaw its distinctive brand and innovative product strategy. Before JetBlue, he held marketing and network planning leadership roles over nearly two decades at United and US Airways.
In his new role as president, St. George will lead JetBlue’s commercial functions – including marketing, loyalty, network planning, airline partnerships, sales, and revenue management – along with customer support, enterprise and operational planning, and corporate communications. He’ll also have oversight of JetBlue Travel Products, an important growth area for the company, which will continue to be led day-to-day by its president, Andres Barry.
“With more than 30 years of experience in aviation and a passion for our industry like few others, Marty’s the right leader to bring onboard as we embark on our focused plan to get back to profitability,” Geraghty said. “I look forward to working with Marty to ensure that our crewmembers are set up for success in serving our customers and can deliver the reliability we know is critical to generating financial returns and powering long-term, sustainable growth.”
St. George added: “I’m energized to be returning to JetBlue at this pivotal time in its history. JetBlue has incredibly passionate people and one of the best brands in the industry. I’m eager to get to work to help drive the business forward for the benefit of our crewmembers, customers, and owners alike.”
This is an encouraging step for the airline. St. George is an old hand at JetBlue and has wide industry experience. That experience isn’t just knowing the industry – it’s the network of people he has built up over decades. If one feels that JetBlue fumbled some over the past few years, it takes somebody like St. George to fix this. He has the inside and outside views crucial to moving through the airline’s challenges – and there are several.
Airlines grow, or they are absorbed into other larger airlines. That seems to be the way the industry chases lower costs of production. The Spirit deal is necessary for JetBlue – and looking back, Virgin America was a lost opportunity. Virgin America would have fit better with JetBlue than it did with Alaska. Lessons from that missed deal are not lost on St. George.
Looking at the role and focus areas he will be responsible for at JetBlue, we can see a synergy. He’s the right man at the right time.
