Virgin Atlantic Airways has announced the appointment of Shai Weiss to the role of chief financial officer, effective as of July 7th.

Shai will join Virgin Atlantic from Virgin Group, where he has been an investment partner since 2007.

In this role Shai also serves on the boards of a number of Virgin Group portfolio companies including Virgin Atlantic.

Shai will report to Virgin Atlantic chief executive Craig Kreeger, who said of the appointment: “As we continue to make strong progress against our plans for profitability, I am delighted to appoint Shai as our chief financial officer.

“Shai has extensive experience in driving improvements in financial performance and control of a number of successful businesses.

“As Shai has been an active member of the Virgin Atlantic Board since the summer of 2012, he has significant knowledge of our business and is well positioned to take on this critical role.”

Shai has extensive private equity, financial and operational expertise gained from a number of senior executive roles.

Prior to joining Virgin Group, Shai held several management positions at ntl:Telewest (now Virgin Media, Inc.), the UK and Europe’s largest cable operator where he was part of the turn-around of ntl.

Shai was also behind the merger between Virgin Mobile UK and ntl:Telewest and the re-brand to Virgin Media. 

Prior to ntl, he was a member of Morgan Stanley’s hi-tech mergers, acquisitions and corporate finance teams.

Shai holds an MBA from Columbia University in New York.

Shai said: “I am thrilled to be joining Virgin Atlantic at this extremely exciting time.

“In my role as a Virgin Atlantic board member I have the pleasure of working with Craig and the leadership team as they return the airline to profitability and build for the future.

“I am now looking forward to returning to an operational role in a leading Virgin company.

“I have enjoyed working with Craig and the team at Atlantic and look forward to achieving sustained success over the next few years.”