Former Spirit CEO Ben Baldanza dies at 62

Former Spirit Airlines CEO Ben Baldanza, 62, died Nov. 5, former Wall Street Journal travel columnist Scott McCartney confirmed on his podcast, which he had co-hosted with Baldanza. 

Baldanza, who was recognized by BTN in 2002 and 2015 as one of the 25 Most Influential people in business travel, had been suffering from ALS, according to McCartney. 

“Ben was a pioneering and visionary airline executive who made airline travel affordable for millions of people,” McCartney said on his podcast.

Baldanza began his airline career in 1986 with American Airlines and also worked at Northwest Airlines, Continental Airlines, Taca Airlines—during which time he also served on the board of Frontier Airlines—and US Airways before joining Spirit in January 2005 as president and COO. He became CEO in 2006, and during his tenure, turned the airline into the ultra-low-cost carrier it is today. He departed Spirit in early January 2016.

Baldanza stripped fares down to their bare basics—essentially a seat—and charged extra for seat selection, checked baggage, carry-on bags larger than a certain size and even water, eventually making the carrier profitable. Other major airlines took notice and began to offer “basic economy” fares in order to compete. 

As a US Airways executive in 2002, Baldanza struck a deal with Sabre to provide the global distribution system provider access to the carrier’s web-only fares in exchange for a reduction in fees paid, a move that helped land him on BTN’s Most Influential list of that year.

Most recently, Baldanza had been on the board of JetBlue from 2018 until resigning in September, according to JetBlue.