Spirit Airlines said Chief Executive Officer Ted Christie is stepping down, less than a month after the pioneering discount carrier emerged from bankruptcy.
Christie’s departure from the company and the board is effective immediately, parent Spirit Aviation Holdings Inc. said Monday in a statement. Until a successor is named, the company will be led by three top executives. Matt Klein, the carrier’s chief commercial officer, also is leaving.
The surprise CEO change caps a rocky few years for Spirit, which nearly merged with JetBlue Airways Corp. before that deal was blocked on antitrust grounds. Spirit has struggled to keep costs manageable as an independent airline, and filed for bankruptcy late last year. The company recently engaged in unsuccessful combination talks with Frontier Group Holdings Inc. before emerging from bankruptcy last month.
Christie had served as CEO since 2019, and joined the carrier in 2012 as chief financial officer. He previously worked at Frontier as chief financial officer.
Spirit will be led temporarily by a newly formed office of the president that will include CFO Fred Cromer, Chief Operating Officer John Bendoraitis and General Counsel Thomas Canfield.
Rana Ghosh, Spirit’s chief transformation officer, will succeed Klein as chief commercial officer.