Wow: Norwegian Hires Former JetBlue Executive

Wow: Norwegian Hires Former JetBlue Executive

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A lot has been going on at Norwegian lately, as the company shifts their focus from growth to profitability.

Just a couple of weeks ago the company announced their pick for new CEO, who comes from outside the industry. He’s replacing Norwegian’s founder, who announced over the summer he’d be stepping down from the role of CEO.

Norwegian has just announced another interesting executive pick.

Norwegian Appoints New Interim CCO

Norwegian has today announced that Marty St. George has been appointed interim Chief Commercial Officer (CCO).

This comes as Norwegian’s previous CCO, Helga Bollmann Leknes, has decided to leave the company after two years. The company notes that she was offered another position in the group’s management team, but decided to pursue other opportunities.

Why Marty St. George Is A Great Pick

On what planet is an interim CCO pick for a struggling airline worth writing about? Well, George has been in the airline industry for more than 30 years, and until recently was the CCO of JetBlue.

He stepped down from the position over the summer. 13 years is a long time to spend at a company, so many wondered if he had another opportunity elsewhere, or what was going on in the JetBlue C-suite.

I find it a bit surprising that he’s only being appointed interim CCO. He’s highly qualified and a great asset, so is he not interested in staying long term, or…?

The other interesting wrinkle here is that JetBlue and Norwegian recently announced a partnership. With George having left JetBlue over the summer, I can’t help but wonder about the dynamics of all of this.

Bottom Line

George is a very well regarded airline executive, and an excellent pick. I still am curious to see what the long term plan here is, given that he was just appointed interim CCO, and also given that he left JetBlue just a few months ago, and now JetBlue and Norwegian are partnering.

What do you make of George being appointed Norwegian’s interim CCO?

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  1. insider Guest

    Let's dispel the Illuminati rumors here. MSG didn't "leave" JetBlue, he was let go. It's as simple as that.

  2. CF Frost Guest

    Wow, @Lucky . Every time you put inflated exclamations in your headlines about the run of thi mill news of the day I cringe a little for you lol. Save WOW for a more meaningful story IMHO. Size matters.

  3. Always Flying Somewhere Member

    @Ben,

    I believe Marty's last name is St. George. "Saint" isn't his middle name.

  4. Manu Guest

    On other Norwegian news, today Jetsmart (a company controlled by Indigo Partners, so related to Frontier & Volaris), announced that they're buying Norwegian Argentina, and they'll be absorving their routes and employees, but not airplanes, so the B737 that are flying in Argentina would be returning to Europe, by March apparently, when the Norwegian brand will leave the domestic argentinean market after about 1,5y of operation.

    I think this make sense considering the whole Norwegian...

    On other Norwegian news, today Jetsmart (a company controlled by Indigo Partners, so related to Frontier & Volaris), announced that they're buying Norwegian Argentina, and they'll be absorving their routes and employees, but not airplanes, so the B737 that are flying in Argentina would be returning to Europe, by March apparently, when the Norwegian brand will leave the domestic argentinean market after about 1,5y of operation.

    I think this make sense considering the whole Norwegian holding focus on increasing the efficiency of their operations, and the actual and potential restrictions to the operation that they found in Argentina, that might get worse with the change of government next week.

    Nevertheless, I'll miss Norwegian, as they offered a rather good service, specially compared to Aerolíneas Argentinas and LatAm. For example, for the last months they were the only company offering a free 10kg carry on bag on the cheapest ticket for argentinean domestic flights.

  5. flying100 Member

    @Ben Jet Blue and Norwegian have now a partnership, and Norwegian has slots in LHR, and Jet Blue wants to start flights to London, don't you see whats going on.

  6. ksu New Member

    They will only stop long-hauls from two of the three Scandinavian capitals. Oslo has kept its long-hauls.

  7. archer528 Member

    I hope they eventually bring back long haul flights out of their Scandinavian capitals. Sad to see those go.

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insider Guest

Let's dispel the Illuminati rumors here. MSG didn't "leave" JetBlue, he was let go. It's as simple as that.

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CF Frost Guest

Wow, @Lucky . Every time you put inflated exclamations in your headlines about the run of thi mill news of the day I cringe a little for you lol. Save WOW for a more meaningful story IMHO. Size matters.

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Always Flying Somewhere Member

@Ben, I believe Marty's last name is St. George. "Saint" isn't his middle name.

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