Virgin Atlantic hires easyJet comms boss Sarah McIntyre to head US office

McIntyre will take charge of three comms staff from October, managing external comms in the carrier's ten key US markets.

Before joining easyJet, McIntyre spent ten years in Hewlett Packard's corporate comms department.

In the new role, she will be part of a beefed-up global comms team, driven by director of comms Greg Dawson. McIntyre will report to Virgin Atlantic's VP marketing for North America, Simon Bradley.

The airline is keen to drive more inbound revenue from US gateways such as New York City, Miami and Boston. Since joining Virgin Atlantic as comms boss in March 2010, Dawson has been keen to build a global PR team with broad-based skills.

McIntyre's appointment follows the recent UK PR team hires of Joanne Foster from the Home Office, Anna Catchpole from travel PR specialist Hills Balfour, and Louise Holding from trade PR consultancy CIB.