Spirit Airlines new boss vows to repair image

Spirit Airlines' new CE is planning a midcourse correction at the carrier to address rising customer complaints about its punctuality and ward off new competitive threats. Bob Fornaro said he plans to slow the airline’s supercharged growth to make its operations more reliable—and in the process, he hopes, mend its customer relationships. Spirit, which offers extremely low base fares and piles on extra charges for everything from seat assignments to drinking water, has grown rapidly and helped reshape the US airline industry. But it also has received pointed criticism from customers about its fees and poor on-time record. “Maybe we created a persona that dismissed the customer,” he said. Fornaro is in many ways is a departure from his predecessor, Ben Baldanza, who was Spirit’s CE from 2006 until stepping down Jan 5. <br/>