Another new face takes the helm at Blue Bird. The bus manufacturer announced today that it has appointed John Wyskiel to the position of president and CEO, effective February 17, 2025. He will also join the board of directors then.

Wyskiel succeeds Phil Horlock. Just last September, Britton Smith resigned as president after about 15 months, at which point Horlock stepped back in after a hopeful retirement. Horlock served in the role from 2011 to 2021 and was reappointed in May 2023. He will remain on the board.

Wyskiel is an automotive industry veteran with over 35 years of experience in manufacturing leadership, operational excellence, and global sales and supply chain management, according to the announcement. The company will look to him to guide strategic initiatives and deliver profitable growth.

Wyskiel served as general manager of Blue Bird Coach in Canada from 2002 to 2004. Since then, he's been at Magna International, where he most recently was president of Magna Seating. In this role, he led a $6 billion business with 33,000 employees across more than 60 manufacturing facilities in 15 countries. Prior to that, Wyskiel was vice president of Magna’s Body & Structures business in Canada and the United States. He's also worked at automotive suppliers Magna, Dana Corporation, and Borg Warner.

"I’m thrilled to return to Blue Bird, an iconic American company,” said Wyskiel. "I’m passionate about building scalable operations and leading high-performance teams to drive continuous improvement. I look forward to working with the entire Blue Bird team and dealer network to execute our strategic initiatives and to deliver sustained profitable growth."

“On behalf of the board, I would like to thank Phil for his significant contributions and for the stability he has provided as CEO for nearly 15 years,” said Doug Grimm, chairman of Blue Bird Corporation. “He has been instrumental in positioning the company for long-term success, and in particular for firmly establishing Blue Bird as the leader in electric and low-emission school buses. We wish him the best in his retirement. The business is running extremely well with profitability, margins and liquidity at record levels over the past two years. This is the ideal time to transition to a new CEO.”