Twenty-eight days after the Ogden-based fuel refiner and distributor Flying J voluntarily filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, it announced Monday a new chief executive officer.
Flying J founder Jay Call's daughter, Crystal Call Maggelet, who was chairwoman of the board, replaced CEO J. Phillip Adams.
Adams, who had been with the company for nearly three decades, stepped down a month after the company disclosed its debt margin of between $500 million and $1 billion in court documents filed in Wilmington, Del.
The company blamed its financial trouble last month on a tightened credit market and declining oil prices.
"All of us at Flying J recognize and appreciate the contributions Phil has made to the company over the years, and we wish him well," Maggelet stated in a press release. "Given the challenges our company is currently facing, however, it is essential that we look forward."
Maggelet, who has served on the company's board for 20 years, graduated with an MBA from Harvard University and currently operates her 11-location Crystal Inn hotel chain with her husband.
Flying J spokeswoman Lin-Hua Wu would not say whether or not the board of directors asked for Adams' resignation amid the company's high-stakes, yearlong restructuring process that entails the financial reorganization of one of the 20 largest independently owned companies in the United States.
Wu, however, told the Deseret News that she doesn't "contemplate" any more executive employment changes at this time.
Since their Dec. 22 bankruptcy announcement, Flying J officials have not wavered in public announcements about their intentions to keep all of their 16,000 employees and not close any of their 250 travel and fuel centers.