JetBlue Welcomes New Board Members from Icahn Enterprises in Strategic Partnership

Saturday, February 17, 2024

JetBlue declared its new partnership with Icahn Enterprises L.P., a key stakeholder, announcing that Jesse Lynn, the general counsel of Icahn Enterprises, and Steven Miller, a portfolio manager at Icahn Capital, will be joining JetBlue’s board of directors. Initially, Lynn and Miller will participate as non-voting board observers until the upcoming annual stockholders’ meeting this spring, after which they will become fully voting board members.

Peter Boneparth, chair of the JetBlue board, said, “We are pleased to have reached this agreement with Icahn Enterprises. 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. 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.”

Joanna Geraghty, chief executive officer, JetBlue, said, “We are already taking action to restore our historical earnings power. 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.”

Carl C. Icahn said, “We appreciate the constructive engagement we have had with JetBlue’s board and leadership team. We very much look forward to working with them in the future.”

Following the annual meeting, the inclusion of Mr. Lynn and Mr. Miller will increase JetBlue’s board to 13 directors, with 12 anticipated to be independent. This marks a significant board refreshment since 2018, adding eight new independent directors, including the ones announced today.

The agreement between JetBlue and the Icahn Group includes standard standstill, voting commitments, and other terms. Detailed information regarding this agreement, including the full document, will be shared in a forthcoming Current Report on Form 8-K to be submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission.

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