Networking Reception & Awards Presentation for Ben Baldanza

Join us for a Summer Networking Reception and Awards Presentation for Ben Baldanza

A chance to enjoy an informal gathering of fellow IAC Members and aviation professionals and to congratulate former Spirit Airlines CEO and JetBlue Board Member Ben Baldanza. Ben will be presented with the ATW 2023 Joseph S. Murphy Award Service to Industry Award.

This event is free to IAC Members, but space is limited. Tickets will be issued on a first-reply basis. All guests must be registered to attend.

<><><><>

Ben Baldanza has worked for commercial airlines for over 35 years, including eleven years as the successful if controversial CEO of Spirit Airlines. Before Spirit, Ben held finance, marketing, and operations roles at American, Northwest, Continental, Taca, and US Airways. Having joined the industry out of college just a few years after the passing of the federal Airline Deregulation Act, Ben has seen the successes, failures, and innovations of the industry first hand and has worked with some its most colorful personalities. He teaches a class called “Airline Economics” at George Mason University in Virginia, and now serves on the Board of Directors for JetBlue Airways and GoAir in India.

Ben received on-the-job media training in his role as CEO, where he was often asked to explain Spirit’s policies and business model on CNBC, Fox Business, Fox News, CNN, CNN International, Bloomberg Radio and TV, and shows like the Today Show, Charlie Rose, and the O’Reilly Factor. His live TV interview with Gayle King is transcribed and used as a model for proper preparation and performance in a critical media program setting in the “Media Training Bible” by Brad Phillips.