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Hertz on Monday said it would replace its outgoing financials chief with Spirit Airlines’s CFO as both companies tackle strategic reboots.
The rental car giant has appointed Scott Haralson to replace current CFO Alexandra Brooks at the end of June, while Spirit has tapped Vice President and Controller Brian McMenamy to serve as its interim head of financials as of June 14. Brooks will be leaving to pursue other opportunities and will stay on through the month to help with the transition, according to Hertz.
Haralson took on the CFO job at Spirit in 2018 and would go on to help guide the company through the COVID-19 pandemic, which rattled the airline industry, and an attempted $3.8 billion merger with JetBlue. Spirit reported its 10th consecutive quarterly loss last month and forecast another poor quarter to follow. The company is in discussions with bondholders to avoid a possible bankruptcy by restructuring its debts and has embarked on a cost-cutting plan.
McMenamy will earn a $110,000 pay bump to a $400,000 annual salary with the interim CFO gig, according to a regulatory filing. Griselle Molina, a senior director of corporate accounting, will succeed him as vice president and controller.
Meanwhile, Haralson will take point on helping Hertz recover from its mixed bet on electric vehicles.
The company had purchased a sizable fleet of electric cars, mostly Teslas, but renters weren’t enthusiastic, and repair costs piled up. In April, CEO Gil West said that many renters were unfamiliar with how to charge or otherwise properly use an EV but chose to do so anyway because of what was available.
The value of those EVs has also been decreased due to Tesla’s price cuts, which caused greater-than-expected losses during the first quarter. Hertz intends to sell off 30,000 EVs in 2024 after taking a $440 million hit related to the vehicles.
The company’s bonds hit a new low last week after Moody’s Ratings cut its outlook to negative from stable. Hertz is weighing its options to raise financing, Bloomberg News reported last week.
Haralson will receive an annual salary of $750,000 and be able to participate in Hertz’s short-term and long-term incentive plans, according to a regulatory filing. He’ll also get a $500,000 cash award after 30 days of working for Hertz to compensate him for “foregone cash incentives with his prior employer.”
When Haralson officially joins Hertz, he will be the company’s second former airline executive. West oversaw Delta Air Lines as chief operating officer between 2014 and 2020.