Virgin Atlantic chief executive Shai Weiss will stand down on 31 December 2025 after seven years leading the UK carrier, to be replaced by chief customer and operating officer Corneel Koster.
Weiss was promoted from chief financial officer in early 2019, having joined the business in 2014, and managed the carrier through the Covid-19 pandemic and a transformation effort. Last year saw Virgin Atlantic achieve positive operating profits and pre-tax profits for the first time since the pandemic, although exceptionals meant the carrier continued to record a net loss.
“Shai has done an outstanding job over the past seven years,” says Virgin Atlantic founder Richard Branson. “I’m grateful for his vision, passion and commitment to creating brilliant experiences that have made the airline stronger and raised the bar across the industry.”
Koster re-joined Virgin Atlantic in 2019 from Delta Air Lines – which holds a 49% stake in the UK carrier – where he was working as senior vice-president of Europe, Middle East, Africa and India. He previously had a stint as Virgin’s director of operations, safety and security, before leaving in 2013 to join Aeromexico as chief operating officer. Koster moved from the Mexican carrier to Delta in 2017.
Weiss has talked openly about being diagnosed with cancer in 2022, telling Spencer Stuart early last year: ”Two years ago when I confronted cancer, I knew Virgin Atlantic was in safe hands; I trusted my team and our people to do everything they could to ensure that Virgin Atlantic would continue to recover and keep the show in the air.
”How I’ve managed my personal challenge is very much shaped by what I learned during the pandemic.”
