American senior vice president Craig Kreeger leaves to become CEO of Virgin Atlantic

American Airlines senior vice president Craig Kreeger has been named the new chief executive of Virgin Atlantic.

Kreeger, who has worked for American for more than 25 years, will start at Virgin in February, overseeing the British carrier's new relationship with Delta Air Lines. Delta purchased a 49 percent stake in Virgin Atlantic in December.

At American, Kreeger's recent position included overseeing customer service at the carrier from reservations to airport operations to inflight service and baggage handling.

"Craig has always been a driving force at American - bringing innovation and transformation to so many parts of our airline for more than 25 years," said American chief executive Tom Horton as he thanked Kreeger for his service in a statement on Tuesday.

Jon Snook will replace Kreeger as American's senior vice president of customer service. Snook, a native of Manchester, England, is currently American's vice president of operations planning and performance.

At Virgin Atlantic, Kreeger, 53, succeeds current chief executive Steve Ridgway who is retiring. The two will work together through the end of February.

"We are thrilled to welcome Craig to Virgin Atlantic – he is the right person to succeed Steve Ridgway at this dynamic and challenging time for our airline," said Virgin Atlantic founder Sir Richard Branson. "We believe Craig has the experience and passion to drive Virgin Atlantic forward and capitalize on the opportunities created by our new venture with Delta Airlines."

-Andrea Ahles

Comments

[stmfmike]

I wonder if he'll be buying the London Townhouse with his severance payment.

[Pat]

This is just the beginning - lets watch as the executives start to jump ship! These are truly exciting times.

[Richard]

He's leaving voluntarily so I doubt he'l get any severance.

I'm sure it's not an ideal time for him to go from American's perspective, but who wouldn't jump at the chance to be CEO of their own airline? Especially Virgin Atlantic.