Miramar, Fla., USA - August 8, 2013, Miramar, Fla., USA - Spirit Airlines, Inc., an ultra low-cost carrier, announced that it has elected H. McIntyre Gardner as chairman.
Article continues below
Mr. Gardner has been a member of Spirit's Board of Directors since July 2010. Mr. Gardner retired in 2008 from Merrill Lynch & Co., Inc. as the Head of Americas Region and Global Bank Group, Global Private Client.
Prior to joining Merrill Lynch in July 2000, Mr. Gardner was the President and Chief Operating Officer of Helen of Troy Limited, a personal care products manufacturer. Mr. Gardner previously served on Spirit's audit and nominating and corporate governance committees.
He has been a Director of Isola Group, SARL since September 01, 2011. Mr. Gardner has been a Director of BlackLight Power Inc. since 2010. He served as Director of ML Life Insurance Co. of New York and Transamerica Advisors Life Insurance Company. Mr. Gardner earned Bachelor of Arts degree in religion from Dartmouth College in 1983.
William A. Franke of Indigo Partners resigned as Chairman of the Board.
Mr. Franke serves as the President and Chairman of Bristol Group SA. He has an extensive background in the airline industry and in Latin America, both as an investor and an executive. Mr. Franke is the Managing Member at Air Partners III, LLC and a Managing Partner at Newbridge Latin America. He has been the President at Franke and Company, Inc. since 1987. He serves as the Commissioner at Mandala Airlines (Indonesia).
Mr. Franke served as the Chairman and the Chief Executive Officer of America West Holdings Corporation from February 1997 to September 2001 and the President from April 1999 to September 2001. He served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of US Airways Group, Inc. He served as the Chief Executive Officer of America West Airlines, Inc. from 1993 to September 1, 2001 and as the President from April 1999 to May 24, 2000. In his business career, he served as the Chief Executive Officer of Southwest Forest Industries, Inc. (now Smurfit-Stone Container).
Mr. Franke serves as the Chairman of Wizz Air, and Tiger Airways Singapore Pte Ltd. He serves as the Chairman of the Board at Bristol Group SAIC. He served as the Chairman of Spirit Airlines, Inc. from July 2006 to August 7, 2013. Mr. Franke also served as the Chairman of the airlines since 1992 until his retirement. He served as the Chairman of America West Holdings Corporation from February 1997 to September 2001.
Mr. Franke served as the founding Chairman at Airplanes Group, Ltd. Mr. Franke served as the Chairman of the Circle K Corp. He has been a Director of Freeport-McMoRan Corporation since 1980. He has been Director of Concesionaria Vuela CompanÃa de Aviación, S.A. de C.V. (Volaris) since 2010. Mr. Franke serves as a Director of Alpargatas SAIC. He has been a Director of Phelps Dodge Corp. since 1980. He served as a Director at Beringer Wine Estates Holdings Inc, ON Semiconductor Inc, America West Holdings Corporation, Central Newspapers Inc, and AerFi Group, PLC.
He was involved in the acquisition of GPA (then renamed AerFi Group) by Texas Pacific Group and served on AerFi’s Board of Directors till 2000. He served as a Director of Ryanair, Gate Gourmet, Beringer Wine Estates, and ON Semiconductor.
Mr. Franke holds his Undergraduate and Graduate degrees from Stanford University. He also has an honorary doctorate from Northern Arizona University awarded in 2008.
In addition, John R. Wilson, also of Indigo Partners, resigned from the Board.
Mr. Wilson has been a Principal of Indigo since 2004. Mr. Wilson served as Vice President of Financial Planning and Analysis at US Airways, LLC (alternate name, America West Airlines Inc.), a subsidiary of US Airways Group, Inc. since November 2002. ■