High-flying general counsel John Varley has decided to depart Virgin America, where he'd served as the top lawyer for seven years, and land at ExpressJet Airlines Inc. as the Atlanta-based company's senior vice president-chief administrative officer and general counsel.

Varley's move, announced Thursday, comes amid the final stages of Virgin America's $2.6 billion merger with Alaska Airlines, which began in 2016.

Varley joined Virgin America in 2010, about three years after billionaire adventurer and businessman Richard Branson launched the airline under his British venture capital conglomerate Virgin Group Ltd. The airline offered a hipper, more comfortable alternative to traditional commercial airlines and lured passengers with mood-lit cabins, custom-designed leather seats and on-demand menus.