JetBlue Announces Changes to Board, Extends CEO’s Contract

A JetBlue aircraft at JFK

JetBlue Airways said it had made changes to its board of directors that will underscore the independence of the board.

Three members of the board including the current chairman, Joel Peterson, will retire at the end of 2020, in keeping with the new guidelines that place limits on tenure and include an age-based retirement threshold. The other two members are Frank Sica and Stephan Gemkow.

“After a thorough and thoughtful review process, our board adopted revised guidelines, including limits on tenure and an age-based retirement threshold, to assure the independence and objectivity of our board,” said Mr. Peterson in a statement.

The airline announced the appointment of Peter Boneparth to the position of chairman of the board. Mr. Boneparth previously served as the CEO at Jones Apparel Group. He joined the JetBlue board of directors in 2008.

The company also said that the board nominated Robert Leduc as an independent director to be voted on at the annual meeting of stockholders in May.  Mr. Leduc, who is retired, previously served as president of Pratt & Whitney.

Finally, JetBlue announced that its current CEO, Robin Hayes, agreed to an extension of his employment contract for an additional year. The contract will now run through July 2022.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)