Ben Baldanza, Former CEO Of Spirit Airlines, Dies At 62

The witty and approachable Ben Baldanza, the charismatic former CEO of Spirit Airlines, has lost his battle with ALS and died at age 62.

RIP Ben Baldanza, Former Spirit Airlines Chief Executive And Ultimate AvGeek

Baldanza was not just a venerable airline executive, but an AvGeek who loved to engage with frequent flyers and even had a podcast (called Airlines Confidential) and column (in Forbes) in which he opined on a wide range of issues.

This week, he lost his battle to Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), more commonly known as Lou Gehrig’s disease.

His career spanned several carriers:

American Airlines
Northwest Airlines
United Parcel Service
Continental Airlines
Grupo TACA
US Airways
Spirit Airlines

He was CEO of Spirit Airlines from 2005 to 2016. While the Spirit business model has been called into question due to recent financial struggles, he transformed the carrier into an “ultra-low-cost” business model, opening up air travel to millions of additional Americans and carving out a niche in the industry that I greatly admire (even as an outsider, not a Spirit customer).

I interacted with Baldanza once and found him to be approachable and personable, which are qualities that I appreciate in anyone, but especially industry titans. He even cited me in one of his columns.

But I also appreciated he was a family man, philanthropist, and genuine…oh, I often disagreed with him, especially on airline bailouts, but he did not talk out of both sides of his mouth, which might be a lesson for aspiring and failed politicians…

When my epithet is written, I also want to be known as a man of faith who loved his family, worked hard, and thought outside the box to open travel to more people. RIP, Ben.

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image: Airlines Confidential podcast