Carl
Icahn is already making his presence felt at JetBlue Airways.
The
activist investor, who took a nearly 10 percent stake in the airline just days
ago, has secured two seats on JetBlue's Board of Directors
for his company.
Jesse Lynn, general counsel of Icahn Enterprises, and Steven
Miller, portfolio manager of Icahn Capital, will join its board, JetBlue said
on Friday.
Lynn and Miller will serve as
non-voting observers to the board through JetBlue’s annual meeting of stockholders
this spring, after which time they will join the board as full voting members.
"We appreciate the constructive engagement we have had with
JetBlue's board and leadership team," Icahn said in a statement.
JetBlue said the Icahn Group has agreed not to engage in a proxy
fight.
"We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Icahn
Enterprises," JetBlue board chair Peter Boneparth said. "Our board
and leadership team are focusing our full attention on taking aggressive action
to return to profitability and strengthen JetBlue's foundation for the future.
"We welcome Jesse and Steven to the board," Boneparth
continued. "With their experience on public company boards, often when
navigating key inflection points, they will add useful insights as we set
JetBlue on a path back to long-term sustainable growth and shareholder value
creation."
JetBlue has lost money in its shares for the last couple of
years and, earlier in January, was blocked by a federal judge from merging with
Spirit Airlines.
"We are already taking action to restore our historical
earnings power," JetBlue CEO Joanna Geraghty said. "We are executing
more than $300 million of revenue initiatives this year, and are on track to
deliver significant cost savings from our structural cost program, fleet
modernization, and fixed cost base reductions."
"Building on our distinct brand and unique value
proposition, we are focused on delivering value to our shareholders and all of
our stakeholders, and we welcome the contributions of our new board members as
we move forward with that common goal," Geraghty continued.
Since 2018, JetBlue has refreshed more than half of its
executive board and added eight new independent directors, including the appointments
announced of Lynn and Miller.
Still, It will be interesting to see how much power the noted
investor wields.
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