Former President & CEO
Virgin America

With over 26 years of management experience at some of the world’s biggest airlines, David Cush was appointed President and Chief Executive Officer of Virgin America on December 10, 2007. In David’s time with Virgin America, the Company has experienced record-setting growth and has swept all the major reader-based travel industry best-in-class awards, including “Best Domestic Airline” in both Travel + Leisure’s World’s Best Awards and Condé Nast Traveler’s Readers’ Choice Awards.

Over the course of his career, David has held key leadership roles overseeing all aspects of the airline business including Finance, Sales and Marketing, Customer Service and Operations. Prior to Virgin America, David served as Senior Vice President of Global Sales at American Airlines, where he was responsible for all sales activity worldwide, including Latin America, Europe and Asia. In his career at American, David also gained significant operating experience, having held the position of Vice President of American’s St. Louis hub, where he ran airport operations for more than 200 daily departures and over 7,000 employees. Prior to that role, David was Vice President of International Planning and Global Alliances at American. David originally joined American in financial planning, and later he was assigned to American’s regional headquarters in London as Managing Director of Finance and Administration for Europe, the Middle East and Africa. From there, he became the Managing Director of Finance and Administration for Miami, the Caribbean and Latin America, and then Managing Director of the Caribbean and Central America, with marketing and operational responsibilities in those areas. In addition to 20 years with American, David served as Chief Operating Officer of Aerolineas Argentinas, the national carrier of Argentina.

David was born and raised in Shreveport, Louisiana. He received a Bachelor of Fine Arts Degree in Broadcast/Film and a Bachelor of Science Degree in Psychology from Southern Methodist University, Dallas, in 1982. A year later, he received a Master’s Degree in Business Administration from SMU.

David was named one of the Bay Area’s “Most Admired CEOs” by the San Francisco Business Times in 2009. David is an Advisory Board Member of the Agassi Foundation for Education. He also sits on the Board of Directors of the Silicon Valley Leadership Group and the Bay Area Council.