Christoph Franz, 49, has served as the CEO of Swiss International Air Lines since 2004. Before that, he spent nine years in management positions at Deutsche Bahn AG, the German national railway.
Franz represents Deutsche Lufthansa AG, Germany's biggest airline, which agreed in December to pay $300 million to buy a 19 percent stake in cash-strapped JetBlue.
JetBlue shares fell 26 cents, or 3.6 percent, to $6.97 in afternoon trading. Shares have traded between $4.30 and $14.02 in the past 12 months.
