JetBlue Airways Corp. will bring back a former executive and industry veteran to fill the president’s role under Joanna Geraghty, 51, when she takes the top job at the carrier on Feb. 12. Marty St. George, most recently CCO at Latam Airlines Group SA, spent 13 years at JetBlue before leaving in 2019. On Feb. 26, he will take over one of two jobs Geraghty is vacating to become CEO. The carrier hasn’t named a new COO. St. George, 59, was JetBlue’s chief commercial officer reporting to Geraghty when he left the carrier, and the two had served on the leadership team. St. George helped build JetBlue’s flight network and worked on airline partnership strategies, brand and products. As president, he’ll oversee areas including marketing, network planning, sales and revenue management, loyalty and JetBlue Travel Products, the airline said in a statement Wednesday. <br/>
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Global Crossing Airlines is searching for a new chief executive after the resignation of founding CEO Ed Wegel. The South Florida-based company, which operates under the brand GlobalX, disclosed Wegel’s departure on 5 February, adding that he will remain on the comany’s board of directors. Wegel and the board ”have agreed that Mr Wegel will resign his duties, rights and obligations as an officer and chairman and CEO of the company, effective immediately”, the airline says. ”It has been a great privilege for me to have helped build GlobalX over the last four years,” Wegel says. “As I step down from day-to-day operations, I look forward to working with the board in the future… to help continue the growth and development of the airline.” GlobalX’s long-time CFO Ryan Goepel has been appointed the company’s president. ”In collaboration with Ed Wegel, Ryan spent the past four years creating and building GlobalX, taking the lead role in all finance, fund-raising, aircraft acquisition and sales initiatives,” the company says. Meanwhile, Chris Jamroz becomes executive chairman, having previously served as board advisor and later board director for GlobalX. Jamroz’s experience includes leading cargo carrier USA Jet Airlines and overseeing operations at Ameriflight. <br/>
Ryanair is concerned by shortcomings identified by U.S. regulators in a report into the Alaska Airlines 737 MAX 9 accident, and increased regulatory supervision is set to "slow things down" at Boeing, CEO Michael O'Leary said on Wednesday. Ryanair, Europe's largest airline by passenger numbers and one of Boeing's main customers, has ordered over 350 MAX jets in recent years, but has no MAX 9 aircraft. A door plug, opens new tab that flew off an Alaska Airlines MAX 9 jet mid-flight on Jan. 5 appeared to be missing four key bolts, according to a preliminary report by the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board released on Tuesday. "I think we're concerned because it highlights, you know, poor production quality with Boeing... but we don't think it affects our Boeing 737 fleet or the MAX 8 that we operate," CEO Michael O'Leary told Reuters on the sidelines of an event in Lisbon on Wednesday. He said the last 12 aircraft Ryanair received in October-December showed quality improvements from earlier in the year, "but Boeing have clearly more to do". "But there's no doubt that the increased supervision by the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration) in Seattle will slow things down. We're just not sure yet whether it will affect our deliveries between now and the end of June," he added.<br/>
Hainan Airlines this week started letting passengers on some routes use Rokid’s augmented reality glasses for free for in-flight entertainment, the tech startup announced Thursday. Chinese start-up Rokid claimed it’s the first time AR glasses — which allow computer-generated images to be superimposed on the real world — have been used at scale on flights. Passengers can watch 3D movies, read e-books and play simple games using the glasses, instead of doing so on a built-in monitor. Apple’s Vision Pro virtual reality headset, which isn’t available in China yet, comes with a motion-stabilizing “travel mode” for use on airplanes. The device allows wearers to see the real world using what the company calls “spatial computing” technology. Rokid’s deal with Hainan Airlines is more of a marketing effort to boost consumers’ awareness of AR glasses, rather than a large commercial deal, the startup’s founder and CEO Misa Zhu told CNBC in a phone interview Wednesday. He claimed Rokid was in talks “with lots of airlines” for similar partnerships, including at least one major international operator. Zhu said he wasn’t authorized to disclose details, but expects more announcements in the next few months.<br/>