B. Ben Baldanza ’84 B.A. (Econ/PSt) was honored with the Maxwell School’s inaugural Bridge Award during the Centennial Celebration in Washington, D.C., in May 2024. While he was unable to attend the event—Baldanza was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2022—he wanted to share his gratitude and reverence for his alma mater.

When it was time for Baldanza’s award presentation at the Smithsonian’s National Portrait Gallery, his 17-year-old son Enzo connected virtually and played remarks from his father. He shared how he often thought about Syracuse throughout his career: “This could be applying something I learned; figuring out what to tell Professor Bill Coplin how I ‘did something good’ in the year; a conversation with a teacher or a fellow student; watching SU sports, or just a memory or experience,” he said. “In this way, we all bring Syracuse with us everywhere we go and that is the greatest gift that the University gives to its graduates.”

The remarks were delivered in Baldanza’s voice, though they were generated with the support of an innovative company, ElevenLabs, that used artificial intelligence and hours of voice recordings. Baldanza explained this and, before closing, said, “We need to be concerned about the risk of AI, but we need to be equally excited about the wonderful opportunities this tool can offer our world.”

Baldanza, a longtime Maxwell supporter and innovative business leader who helped transform the airline industry, passed away on Nov. 5, 2024. He was 62.

Passionate about education and the arts, he was a member of Maxwell’s advisory board since 2016 and, with his wife Marcia B.S. ’86 (special education), created the Baldanza Fund for Excellence in Education Policy in Practice to support Syracuse University research and promote teacher diversity in Syracuse.

After earning his undergraduate degree in economics and policy studies from Maxwell in 1984, Baldanza received a master in public affairs from Princeton University.

He interned at American Airlines Group and held management positions at US Airways, Grupo Taca, and Continental, Northwest and American Airlines before he became CEO of Spirit Airlines in 2005. At Spirit, he was associated with the concept of "democratizing air travel." Under his leadership, Spirit became a prominent example of the ultra-low-cost carrier model in the U.S. This business model aimed to make air travel accessible to more people by offering lower base fares and allowing customers to pay for only the services they wanted or needed, such as baggage, seat selection or onboard refreshments.

After leaving Spirit in 2016, he served as chairman of Six Flags Entertainment and as a board member of JetBlue Airways and the airlines Wow Air, Odyssey Airlines and Go First. He also taught as an adjunct professor at George Mason University in a self-designed course called Airline Economics. Drawing upon his years of experience and expertise, he co-hosted the podcast Airline Confidential with Wall Street Journal travel columnist Scott McCartney beginning in 2019.

In addition to the Baldanza Fund for Excellence in Education Policy in Practice, Baldanza and his wife Marcia created the Baldanza Endowment for Undergraduate Excellence which provided $125,000 to support undergraduate research and fund Maxwell’s annual Celebration of Undergraduate Scholarship.

Baldanza’s numerous honors included the Bridge Award from Maxwell as well as the Air Transport World Joseph S. Murphy Award in 2023 and the 2024 Wright Brothers Memorial Trophy from the United States National Aeronautic Association for his 38 years of dedicated service to the U.S. airline industry.