Robin N. Hayes (born 1966) is a British-American businessman who is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of JetBlue Airways Corp and current chairman and CEO of Airbus Americas, Inc.

Education

Robin Hayes was born in 1966 and grew up in

London London is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, largest city of both England and the United Kingdom, with a population of in . London metropolitan area, Its wider metropolitan area is the largest in Wester ...

, United Kingdom, as the oldest of three children. He did not take his first flight until he was 18 years old, when he flew to Greece with his then-girlfriend. Hayes earned a

Bachelor of Science A Bachelor of Science (BS, BSc, B.S., B.Sc., SB, or ScB; from the Latin ') is a bachelor's degree that is awarded for programs that generally last three to five years. The first university to admit a student to the degree of Bachelor of Scienc ...

(BSc) in electrical and electronic engineering in 1988 from the

University of Bath The University of Bath is a public research university in Bath, England. Bath received its royal charter in 1966 as Bath University of Technology, along with a number of other institutions following the Robbins Report. Like the University ...

in the United Kingdom. He received a master's degree in engineering (MEng) from the same school in 1989.

Career

After university, his first job in the aviation industry was delivering

duty-free A duty-free shop or store is a retail outlet whose goods are exempt from the payment of certain local or national taxes and duties, on the requirement that the goods will be sold to travelers who will take them out of the country, who will ...

items to passengers at

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport — also known as Boston Logan International Airport — is an international airport located mostly in East Boston and partially in Winthrop, Massachusetts, United States. Covering , it has ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

for a summer. Employees would earn a $50 prize for perfect attendance, but Hayes called in sick on his last day. He then designed military cockpit avionic systems for a year before starting a job at

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

working as a gate attendant and at the ticket counter in

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

, Scotland. Hayes then joined

, ultimately rising to the position of Executive Vice President for The Americas over nineteen years at the airline. He also was General Manager for Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean.

jetBlue

Hayes became

jetBlue JetBlue Airways Corporation, stylized as jetBlue, is an American major airline headquartered in Long Island City, in Queens, New York City. Primarily a point-to-point carrier, JetBlue's network features six focus cities including its main hub ...

chief commercial officer The chief commercial officer (CCO) (sometimes referred to as the chief business officer) is an executive-level role, with the holder being responsible for the commercial management and the development of an organization. It typically involves a ...

in August 2008. In 2012, Hayes became a U.S. citizen, a requirement for becoming CEO of a U.S. airline. He was named the airline's president on 1 January 2014. Among the initiatives that Hayes spearheaded was

jetBlue Mint Mint is a business class airline product offered by JetBlue on some flights between the West Coast and the East Coast of the contiguous United States, seasonally on some flights between the United States and Caribbean destinations, as well to V ...

, a premium cabin offering on select transcontinental flights. Hayes became CEO on 16 February 2015, upon the resignation of JetBlue founder and CEO

David Barger David J. Barger (born 1958) is an American businessman, and one of the co-founders of JetBlue. He was the airline's chief executive officer (CEO) until his ouster in February 2015. He had been part of JetBlue's founding team and was on the board ...

due to concern from

Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...

analysts about the airline's efforts to increase revenues. Under Hayes, JetBlue announced a codeshare alliance with

American Airlines American Airlines, Inc. is a major airlines of the United States, major airline in the United States headquartered in Fort Worth, Texas, within the Dallas–Fort Worth metroplex, and is the Largest airlines in the world, largest airline in the ...

in July 2020. Another major move during Hayes's tenure is the pending purchase of discount airline

Spirit Airlines Spirit Airlines, Inc. is an American ultra-low cost airline headquartered in Dania Beach, Florida, in the Miami metropolitan area. Spirit operates scheduled flights throughout the United States, the Caribbean, and Latin America. Spirit was the ...

. JetBlue agreed in July 2022 to purchase Spirit for $3.8 billion, which would create the fifth largest carrier in the United States. In December 2022, Hayes received a two-year extension to his contract, extending his term as CEO until at least 1 September 2025. On 08 January 2024, JetBlue announced that Hayes will step down as CEO on 12 February 2024.

Personal life

Hayes met his wife Sue while both were executives at British Airways' London headquarters. The couple lives in

Connecticut Connecticut ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Rhode Island to the east, Massachusetts to the north, New York (state), New York to the west, and Long Island Sound to the south. ...

and have three children. Hayes is a member of the

board of directors A board of directors is a governing body that supervises the activities of a business, a nonprofit organization, or a government agency. The powers, duties, and responsibilities of a board of directors are determined by government regulatio ...

of American bank

KeyBank KeyBank is an American regional bank headquartered in Cleveland, Ohio, and the 27th largest bank in the United States. Organized under the publicly traded KeyCorp, KeyBank was formed from the 1994 merger of the Cleveland-based Society Corpora ...

and the airline industry's trade association

International Air Transport Association The International Air Transport Association (IATA ) is an airline trade association founded in 1945. IATA has been described as a cartel since, in addition to setting technical standards for airlines, IATA also organized tariff conferences tha ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hayes, Robin Living people American airline chief executives Alumni of the University of Bath British chief executives JetBlue 1967 births