Ben Baldanza

Quick Facts

Full Name	Ben Baldanza
Occupation	Businessperson
Date Of Birth	Dec 3, 1961(1961-12-03)
Age	63
Birthplace	New York
Country	United States
Horoscope	Sagittarius

Ben Baldanza Biography

Ben Baldanza is one of the most popular and richest Businessperson who was born on December 3, 1961 in New York, United States. Baldanza was born the 3rd of December 1961 at Rome, New York. When he was a kid his trombone was a favorite instrument and briefly considered a musician career. Later, he went to Syracuse University and graduated with an undergraduate degree in economics in 1984. He was awarded a Masters of Public Administration at Princeton University in 1986.

Baldanza has left US Airways to become president and COO of Spirit Airlines in January 2005. He was named the chief executive officer of Spirit in the year 2006. In the year 2006, the company was suffering annual expenses of $79 million. In his time, Baldanza was “the public face of Spirit’s transformation into a more extreme version of a discount airline.” He devised a strategy to make it an ultra-low-cost airline. The company adopted the “Bare Fare” model, charging airline fees for the services that are that are normally included in airline fares. It also charged fees for the possibility of choosing an appropriate seat as well as food and drinks carried-on, checked baggage and carry-on. On July 14 the 14th of July, 2010 Baldanza appeared at an U.S. Congress hearing in which he spoke out against the airline’s controversial “policy to unbundle services not essential to passenger transport.” The airline has come under a lot of criticism arising from the change of the airline to an ultra-low cost carrier. Baldanza has been unapologetic about the recent pricing policies. He even appeared in a video of 2010 where he was positioned in an overhead bin in order to defend the new airline policy regarding carry-on charges, declaring “Had we not implemented this, there’s no telling what people would try to put in an overhead bin”.

The most reported criticism of Baldanza stemmed from his handling of customer complaints, especially his initial refusal to refund the fare of a terminally- ill military veteran in May 2012. The Vietnam veteran was diagnosed with cancer and was recently informed that it was terminal and that he was unfit to travel by plane. He requested for a refund and was refused. Baldanza initially defended his team’s decision by stating that the customer purchased a nonrefundable fare with no insurance and therefore the company does not owe him a refund as that would be unfair to other customers. He faced criticism from veterans organizations including a social media campaign to boycott Spirit Airlines. Baldanza eventually apologized for failing to “demonstrate the respect or the compassion that [he] should have, given [the customer’s] medical condition and his service to [his] country.” He announced he would return the price of the fare from his own funds and that Spirit Airlines would make a donation to a veteran’s group.

Baldanza is married to Marcia Baldanza and they have a son. In 2015, the family moved from Fort Lauderdale, Florida to the Washington metropolitan area.

Later, he was employed by Northwest Airlines and after that briefly worked for his former employer, the United Parcel Service. The year 1994 saw him was employed as VP of Pricing by Continental Airlines as VP of Pricing He was then elevated up to EVP of Marketing. In 1997, he resigned from Continental to become the COO and managing director for TACA Airlines. While at Taca the airline, he also served as a director on the board for Frontier Airlines. In the beginning of 2000, he was executive vice director for Marketing and International Operations for US Airways during a troubling period in which the company filed bankruptcy twice over the span of years.

Ben Baldanza Net Worth

Ben Baldanza is one of the richest Businessperson from United States. According to our analysis, Wikipedia, Forbes & Business Insider, Ben Baldanza 's net worth $5 Million. (Last Update: December 11, 2023)

Basil Ben Baldanza (born December 3 1961) is an economist. He was director of operations and the president at Spirit Airlines from 2005 to 2016- a period during which the company was transformed into an ultra-low cost carrier.

The year 1986 was when Baldanza started his journey in the aviation industry, as a member of The American Airlines Group from 1986 until 1991, at which point he was part of chief executive Robert Crandall’s “Brat Pack”, alongside Thomas W. Horton (former CEO of American), C. David Cush (former CEO of Virgin America) and Doug Parker (CEO of American Airlines).

During his tenure, the airline had become profitable in “a period in which many airlines struggled to stay in business.” As of 2011, “Spirit earned 40% more per airplane than any other U.S. airline”. Baldanza and other executives at Spirit were paid less than others in the industry and but instead owned shares in the company. Baldanza often promoted terms such as “a bus with wings” and “dollar store of the sky” to describe the airline. He pushed for ways of offsetting costs by selling advertising spaces where ever available on the plane, including flight attendant aprons, seatback trays, overhead bins, napkins, cups and motion sickness bags. His company used advertising that often went viral instead of relying on a large marketing budget. Their advertisements often contained sexual innuendo as well as topical subjects in pop culture and politics.

Height, Weight & Body Measurements

Ben Baldanza height Not available right now. Ben weight Not Known & body measurements will update soon.

Who is Ben Baldanza Dating?

According to our records, Ben Baldanza is possibily single & has not been previously engaged. As of December 1, 2023, Ben Baldanza’s is not dating anyone.

Relationships Record : We have no records of past relationships for Ben Baldanza. You may help us to build the dating records for Ben Baldanza!

Facts & Trivia

Ben Ranked on the list of most popular Businessperson. Also ranked in the elit list of famous people born in United States. Ben Baldanza celebrates birthday on December 3 of every year.

Top Facts about Ben Baldanza

1. Ben Baldanza is a former CEO of Spirit Airlines.
2. He led the airline from 2006 to 2016.
3. During his tenure, Spirit’s revenue grew by over 500%.
4. Baldanza is known for his unconventional leadership style.
5. He introduced controversial fees for carry-on bags and seat assignments.
6. Under his leadership, Spirit became one of the most profitable airlines in the US.
7. Baldanza has also held executive positions at Continental Airlines and TWA.
8. He currently serves on the board of directors for JetBlue Airways and Marriott International.
9. Baldanza is a frequent commentator on aviation industry news and trends.
10. He holds an MBA from Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management.