JetBlue Appoints Vivek Sharma to Board of Directors

JetBlue (NASDAQ: JBLU) today announced the appointment of Vivek Sharma to its board of directors. The independent director appointment is effective immediately, following unanimous approval by the company’s board of directors.

Sharma has extensive experience in building and growing businesses profitably through the application of digital technology. He is the CEO and founder of InStride, a strategic enterprise education company that enables employers to provide career-boosting degrees, certificates and credentials to their employees through leading global universities. He previously served as Senior Vice President of eCommerce and Digital Guest Experience at The Walt Disney Company.

“It’s exciting to bring Vivek to our board with his extensive background in applied technology and digital leadership,” said Joel Peterson, chairman of the JetBlue board. “Our customers, crewmembers and shareholders will benefit from his expertise and perspective as we continue to diversify and strengthen JetBlue’s business, in part through technology innovations.”

“Vivek’s consumer digital and technology experience is the perfect complement to JetBlue’s disciplined growth strategy as we head into our 20^th anniversary year and beyond,” said Robin Hayes, chief executive officer, JetBlue. “JetBlue has always put people first and Vivek shares our belief that technology can be a powerful enabler, allowing us to better serve our crewmembers, and for our crewmembers to offer an even more special experience for our customers – all with lower costs and higher value.”

Sharma is also an adjunct professor of data science at the University of Southern California’s Marshall School of Business, where he teaches business innovation to graduate students. He graduated from the Indian Institute of Technology, Delhi, and holds an MBA from INSEAD, France.

Earlier in his career, he was the General Manager of Yahoo Mail & Messenger, Vice President of Product Management for Yahoo Search, and Associate Partner with the Technology Practice of McKinsey & Company.

The appointment of Sharma brings JetBlue’s Board of Directors to 12 members, 11 of whom are independent.