David Neeleman

David G. Neeleman
Neeleman in 2015
Born David Gary Neeleman
(1959-10-16) October 16, 1959
São Paulo, Brazil
Residence New Canaan, Connecticut, U.S.
Citizenship Brazil
United States
Cyprus
Occupation CEO of Azul Brazilian Airlines
Known for Commercial Airline Entrepreneur
Spouse(s)
Vicki Vranes
(m. 1980; div. 2013)
[1][2]
Children 10

David G. Neeleman (born October 16, 1959) is a Brazilian-American entrepreneur who has founded four commercial airlines, Morris Air, WestJet, JetBlue Airways and Azul Brazilian Airlines. He is also the co-owner of another commercial airline in Europe, TAP Air Portugal, along with Humberto Pedrosa.[3] Since 2017, he is also a citizen of Cyprus.[4]

Biography

Neeleman was born in São Paulo, Brazil, and raised in Utah, U.S.[5] to a family of Dutch and American descent. He lived in Brazil until he was five.[6]

Career

He co-founded (with June Morris) Morris Air, a low-fare charter airline, and from 1984 to 1988, he was the executive vice president of the company. In 1988 Neeleman assumed the helm of Morris Air as its president. In 1993, when Morris Air was acquired by Southwest Airlines for $130 million (Neeleman received $25 million from the sale), he worked for 5 months on their Executive Planning Committee.[7]

After leaving Southwest, Neeleman became the CEO of Open Skies, a touch screen airline reservation and check-in systems company, later acquired by HP in 1999. At the same time, he helped with another upstart airline, WestJet. JetBlue was incorporated in Delaware in August 1998 and officially founded in February 1999, under the name "NewAir" by Neeleman.[8]

As the CEO of JetBlue Airways, his 2002 salary was $200,000 with a bonus of $90,000. Neeleman donated his entire salary to the JetBlue Crewmember Crisis Fund, which was established for JetBlue employees who had fallen on hard times.[9]

On May 10, 2007, David Neeleman was replaced by David Barger (born 1959) as CEO of JetBlue[10] and on May 21, 2008 he was replaced as chairman of the board by Joel Peterson.[11]

On March 27, 2008 Neeleman officially announced plans to launch a new airline, Azul (Portuguese for "blue"), a domestic carrier in Brazil. Azul will complete 2013 with over 5 Billion (BRL) in sales and currently stands as Brazil's third largest airline.

On October 30, 2013 Neeleman and his youngest brother Mark James Neeleman, a cofounder of Azul,[12] announced the launch of a new company, Vigzul, a home security and monitoring company. Vigzul came from an idea of Mark Neeleman and was founded by David Allred, Brett Chambers and Neeleman serves as Chairman of the board and principal investor. [13][14]

In June 2015, the Portuguese Government decided to sell the TAP Air Portugal Group, owner of the national air carrier, TAP Air Portugal, to the Gateway consortium with David Neeleman in partnership with Humberto Pedrosa who take control of 61% of the capital of the Portuguese carrier. TAP Air Portugal will maintain the country as the airline’s main hub for a minimum of 30 years.

New US startup

In June 2018, he plans a new US airline called Moxy as he registered a new entity, raising $100m capital.[15] On July 17, 2018, Moxy signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Airbus for 60 A220-300 aircraft to be delivered from 2021.[16]

Personal life

Neeleman, a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon), served a two-year mission in Brazil when he was 19.[17]

He is the father of ten children with his former wife, Vicki Vranes.[18][19] He is the 2005 recipient of the Tony Jannus Award for outstanding leadership in the commercial aviation industry.[20] He also speaks fluent Portuguese and holds citizenships of Brazil, U.S. and Cyprus.[21] The Neelemans have since divorced, and Vicki now goes by the last name "Labrum."[22] According to various news sources, Neeleman had to pay his wife a "multi-million dollar" divorce settlement.[23][24]

Neeleman has said that in the early years of JetBlue, he always sat in the last row in a seat that did not recline, to demonstrate that "pleasing the customer was more important than pleasing the chief executive."[25][26]

References

  1. ↑ "Case Detail - FST-FA12-4023216-S". civilinquiry.jud.ct.gov.
  2. ↑ Wynbrandt, James (17 December 2010). "Flying High: How JetBlue Founder and CEO David Neeleman Beats the Competition... Even in the World's Most Turbulent Industry". John Wiley & Sons – via Google Books.
  3. ↑ "David Neeleman's Return Trip: Extended Q&A". Inc.com. 2008-06-01. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  4. ↑ ""Mr Passport" - TAP's David Neeleman changes nationality, again". portugalresident.com. 2017-03-14. Retrieved 2018-01-07.
  5. ↑ Welling, Angie (August 25, 2007). "JetBlue founder recalls stormy times". Deseret News. Retrieved 12 December 2016.
  6. ↑ Sellers, Patricia (July 26, 2010). "The Next JetBlue: What's David Neeleman Doing Starting a New Airline in Brazil? Setting Records, For One Thing". Fortune. 162 (2): 97–100. Retrieved 17 July 2010.
  7. ↑ "JetBlue Airways Corporation - Company Profile, Information, Business Description, History, Background Information on JetBlue Airways Corporation". Referenceforbusiness.com. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  8. ↑ "JetBlue". JetBlue. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  9. ↑ Wade, James B.; O'Reilly III, Charles A.; Pollock, Timothy G. (September–October 2006). "Overpaid CEOs and Underpaid Managers: Fairness and Executive Compensation". Organization Science. 17 (5): 527. doi:10.1287/orsc.1060.0204. ISSN 1047-7039.
  10. ↑ Schlangenstein, Mary (2007-05-10). "JetBlue Air Names Barger to Succeed Neeleman as Chief (Update9)". Bloomberg. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  11. ↑ Shwiff, Kathy (May 21, 2008). "JetBlue Solidifies Succession Plan". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 2008-05-22.
  12. ↑ "Época NEGÓCIOS - EDT MATERIA IMPRIMIR - Há algo de novo no ar". Epocanegocios.globo.com. 2009-01-20. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  13. ↑ "Mark Neeleman (AZUL & VIGZUL)". Startup Grind. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  14. ↑ "Dono da Azul lança empresa de segurança e investe R$ 100 milhões | Valor Económico". Valor.com.br. 2013-10-30. Retrieved 2015-03-09.
  15. ↑ "He's Baaaack: Stop what you're doing. JetBlue founder David Neeleman wants to launch a new U.S. airline". Airline Weekly. June 17, 2018.
  16. ↑ "Future U.S. airline signs commitment for 60 A220-300 aircraft" (Press release). Airbus. 17 July 2018.
  17. ↑ "Mormon in America: JetBlue founder on going from missionary to entrepreneur". NBC News. Retrieved 2016-06-14.
  18. ↑ "TBR Board of Directors: David Neeleman, Chief Executive Officer, jetBlue Airways". Travel Business Roundtable. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2007-05-07.
  19. ↑ Souccar, Miriam Kreinin (4 October 2015). "The Rise of the Outrageously Long Commute". The Atlantic. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
  20. ↑ "David Neeleman, Founder of JetBlue Airlines – Career without a Degree". Claudia Fox. March 21, 2011. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  21. ↑ Azul, Brazil Airline Started by JetBlue Founder, Files for I.P.O. 1 December 2014, The New York Times.
  22. ↑ "Vicki Vranes Labrum". www.facebook.com. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  23. ↑ "Bloomberg - Are you a robot?". www.bloomberg.com. Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  24. ↑ "Azul de David Neeleman lança venda de acções" (in Portuguese). Retrieved 2018-10-03.
  25. ↑ "JETBLUE AIRWAYS INFORMATION HISTORY PICTURES AND FACTS". www.AviationExplorer.com. Retrieved May 20, 2015.
  26. ↑ Pae, Peter (11 May 2007). "JetBlue changes CEO, may move in new direction". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 7 October 2015.
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