Neeleman out as JetBlue CEO

NEW YORK, May 11 (UPI) -- JetBlue Airways, which left thousands of passengers stranded in storms last winter, on Thursday conducted spring cleaning in its executive suites in New York.

JetBlue's board of directors shuffled its top management, with founder David Neeleman relinquishing his chief executive duties while remaining chairman of the board, The Washington Post reported Friday. Airline President Dave J. Barger took over the additional role of CEO.

With Barger, 49, taking care of day-to-day operations, Neeleman will be freed up to focus on long-term strategic initiatives, the low-cost airline said.

"There has been a discussion about this over a period of time," said Barger, who joined JetBlue in 1998. "The atmosphere here is good. ... This is passing the baton. [Neeleman's] handprints are all over JetBlue, so this is reassuring people that this is a natural evolution of the airline."

Analysts said the February storms that disrupted JetBlue operations for days didn't cause the management shift but exacerbated the company's situation, the Post said.

JetBlue has 575 daily flights, making it the 11th-largest U.S. carrier as measured by domestic passenger traffic. But it has been losing money since 2004.