Ben Baldanza, who worked four decades in the US airline industry and helped create the ultra-low-cost model as former chief executive of Spirit Airlines, died on 5 November at age 62 after battling amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).
“Born in Rome, New York, Ben was a visionary who reshaped the airline landscape by pioneering the ultra-low-cost carrier model that Spirit Airlines became famous for,” said a 6 November a notice posted on Baldanza’s LinkedIn page.
“During his tenure at Spirit from 2005 to 2016, Ben transformed the struggling airline into one of the most profitable carriers in the US,” adds the post, which confirmed Baldanza’s death from ALS.
Baldanza resigned from Spirit in 2016 but kept involved in the US airline sector, having until September sat on JetBlue’s board of directors. He also hosted the airline-news-focused Airlines Confidential podcast and had been an airline economics professor at George Mason University in Virginia.
“Ben was the airline disruptor who pioneered the ULCC model in the US as CEO of Spirit. But his brilliant mind, mischievous humor and pay-it-forward spirit set him apart,” says Chris Sloan, a longtime friend who also studied under Baldanza at George Mason and who contributed to the Airlines Confidential podcast. Sloan has also been a contributing writer to FlightGlobal.
Baldanza is survived by his wife Marcia and son Enzo.
“Ben was a well-respected aviation industry leader who played a pivotal role in Spirit’s history and made air travel more accessible to millions,” says Spirit CEO Ted Christie. “In addition, Ben was a close friend and mentor of mine, and I’ll cherish the moments we shared during our time together at Spirit… We are deeply saddened.”
In 2023, Baldanza revealed having been diagnosed with ALS, also known as Lou Gehrig’s disease. His mother died in 1983 of the same affliction. “I had no idea at that time that she had likely passed me a mutation in one of my genes that is the cause of my disease,” Baldanza wrote in a 2023 LinkedIn post. “Despite this diagnosis being essentially a death sentence, I remain optimistic.”
Baldanza embarked on a career in the transportation industry in the early 1980s, interning first at US passenger railroad Amtrak and next at the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey.
In 1986, he joined American Airlines, working as that carrier’s manager of finance and revenue management, before moving to Northwest Airlines in 1991 and then to UPS in 1993, according to his LinkedIn profile.
Baldanza worked at Continental Airlines from 1994 to 1996, then joined El Salvador’s TACA in 1997, becoming that carrier’s chief operating officer.
After nearly three years at TACA, Baldanza returned to his roots in the US airline industry, taking a job at US Airways, where he worked for close to six years, including as that airline’s senior-vice president of marking and international.
It was in 2005 that Baldanza took the CEO job at Spirit, a position that would largely come to define his career. Baldanza steered Spirit through a series of changes that overhauled the competitive dynamics of the US airline industry.
Until then, Miramar, Florida-based Spirit had largely been a niche US airline that enjoyed a strong following in South Florida, flying a smattering of routes from Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International airport.
Baldanza led Spirit through an organisation-wide transformation under which the airline began selling ultra-cheap seats but charging customers for nearly everything else – from seat selection and carry-on luggage to non-alcoholic drinks, water included. Spirit at one point even charged customers a fee to book tickets online; passengers who trekked to the airport to buy tickets in person avoided the up-charge.
Meanwhile, Spirit overhauled its network and fleet. It divested old McDonnell Douglas DC-9-family jets and began transitioning to a fleet composed entirely of Airbus A320-family jets. The carrier expanded well beyond Fort Lauderdale, building a presence in cities including Chicago, Dallas, Las Vegas and New York.
Under Baldanza, Spirit adopted strict and unforgiving customer policies, at times earning negative press for its handling of customer complaints and for its operational performance, which suffered.
“Non-refundable means non-refundable… Consumers who fly multiple airlines are conditioned that if you scream and yell you will get what you want. At Spirit, that doesn’t happen – and that bothers people,” Baldanza told FlightGlobal in 2012.
Complaints aside, the airline delivered passengers to their destinations at rates that bested competitors, spawning a slew of copycats globally, among them the USA’s Frontier Airlines.
Baldanza “transformed the airline from a loss-making company into a profit machine, leading the carrier through its initial public offering in 2011 and producing profits that stoked the envy of other carriers as the industry struggled with periods of high fuel prices and an economic recession”, FlightGlobal reported in 2016.
Baldanza left Spirit abruptly in January 2016.
“His unapologetic approach to business – creating what he called a ‘bus with wings’ – earned both praise and criticism, but he remained steadfast in his mission to make flying affordable for all,” says the posting on Baldanza’s LinkedIn page.
Baldanza remained involved in the airline industry after leaving Spirit.
In 2018, he became a JetBlue board member, chairing the New York carrier’s audit committee and sitting on its safety and finance committees.
JetBlue did not respond to a request for comment but has previously described Baldanza as having “deep understanding of human resources and labour relations, airline operational experience, knowledge of the competitive landscape, experience with government and regulatory affairs… and general airline industry knowledge”.
Baldanza on 12 September resigned his seat on JetBlue’s board of directors.
“I will be sure that my wife and son are cared for in the best ways I can manage, and I will try not to leave problems behind that I could solve now,” Baldanza wrote in the 2023 post revealing his ALS diagnosis. “Most importantly, I will be honest with myself, my family, friends and colleagues.”
