Virgin America’s Fred Reid Named 2007 Executive of the Year by the San Francisco Business Times

The San Francisco Business Times has named Fred Reid, the former CEO of Virgin America Inc., its 2007 Executive of the Year.

Reid is being recognized as the executive who had the greatest impact on San Francisco Bay Area business in the past year. Reid, a 30-year airline veteran, got discount flyer Virgin America ready for take-off and into the air.

For the Bay Area, Virgin America brought a corporate headquarters and hundreds of new jobs. Two-thirds of Virgin America’s 900 employees are based in its Burlingame headquarters or at San Francisco International Airport. The carrier plans to serve 10 cities by fall 2008, up from five today, and will have about 1,000 employees by then.

Final federal approval of the airline came with an unusual condition: Reid’s job. Transportation officials worried that Reid might allow British billionaire Richard Branson, who hired him, to pull the strings in the background. Branson controls U.K.-based conglomerate Virgin Group Ltd.

Reid denied Branson would exert authority, but saw that he had to choose: Save his job or save the airline. He agreed to step down and was replaced three weeks ago by American Airlines Inc. veteran C. David Cush.

“Reid came, he saw, he conquered,” said Steve Symanovich, editor of the San Francisco Business Times. “With Virgin America, he not only left his mark on the Bay Area, but also the entire airline industry.”

Read the full inside story behind the rise of Virgin America in the Dec. 28 issue of the San Francisco Business Times. To view the article, visit sanfrancisco.bizjournals.com and click on print edition. To subscribe, call Lindsey Gross at (415) 288-4961 or email lgross {at} bizjournals(.)com.
Contacts

San Francisco Business Times
Steve Symanovich, 415-288-4947
Editor
ssymanovich {at} bizjournals(.)com