Virgin America Names Holly Nelson Chief Financial Officer

Virgin America, the California-based domestic airline, has announced the appointment of Holly Nelson as the company’s chief financial officer. Mrs. Nelson joins Virgin America in April, and will oversee the award-winning airline’s financial operations, including treasury, tax, financial planning and analysis, accounting, financial reporting, budgets, procurement and fleet planning.

Mrs. Nelson brings 23 years of financial experience in the commercial aviation sector to the Virgin America team. Nelson most recently served as senior vice president of finance and controller at XOJET, Inc.

Mrs. Nelson also served as senior vice president, controller and chief accounting officer at JetBlue Airways. In her six years at JetBlue, Nelson was instrumental in taking the airline into the public markets and contributing to its successful growth.

Mrs. Nelson has also held senior positions with Northwest Airlines, Inc.; Eos Airlines, Inc.; Nabisco Brands; and KPMG. Nelson is a certified public accountant and holds a bachelor of business administration degree from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire.