Braemar Hotels & Resorts' largest shareholder, Al Shams Investments, announced it intends to nominate 'a complete slate of highly qualified, independent directors' to the board by the September 14 deadline. This comes as Braemar moves to split from Ashford Inc. and become self-managed, with Al Shams previously alleging the decision constituted 'self-dealing'.
JetBlue announced that two board members nominated by Carl Icahn, Jesse Lynn and Steve Miller, resigned immediately after Icahn reduced his stake. Icahn expressed appreciation for the constructive partnership and looks forward to JetBlue's continued execution of the JetForward strategy. CEO Joanna Geraghty said the carrier will continue to work with Icahn.
Air New Zealand has appointed former Air India CEO Campbell Wilson to its board, effective from the annual shareholders' meeting on September 24, subject to shareholder approval. Wilson brings over three decades of airline experience, including more than two decades at Singapore Airlines and as founding CEO of low-cost carrier Scoot. His tenure at Air India included a 470-aircraft order and the Vistara merger, but also faced delivery delays and the June 2025 Flight 171 crash. Former Air New Zealand CFO Robert McDonald will also join the board.
GBTA held its annual business meeting, reviewing 2025 financial performance and achievements, and announced the 2026 Board of Directors election results. Newly elected directors will begin terms on August 5th at the close of the Convention. The meeting also previewed the GBTA Convention, August 3-5 in Chicago.
Booking Holdings has announced the appointment of Kurt Sievers, former CEO of NXP Semiconductors, to its Board of Directors, effective immediately. Sievers brings extensive experience in technology, mobility, and global consumer markets, having led major initiatives including the NXP-Freescale merger. Director Lynn Radakovich will retire after the annual meeting in June.
Tripadvisor has reached an agreement with shareholder Starboard Value to add four new directors. This follows a letter from Starboard calling for a sale of the company and new director appointments. Starboard owns more than 9% of the company. Dhiren Fonseca and Andrew Cates have been appointed immediately, and Starboard will recommend two more at the annual meeting. The move aims to support value creation.