BA replaces CEO amid worst crisis in the industry

British Airways is replacing its CEO Alex Cruz and the new CEO will be Aer Lingus boss Sean Boyle.

However, Mr. Cruz will stay on as non-executive chairman for a transition period before Mr. Doyle also takes on the role. In assuming the top job at BA, Doyle follows in the footsteps of another Irish aviation leader Willie Walsh, who led both Aer Lingus and BA before taking the helm at IAG, at the time of its creation in 2011.  Donal Moriarty, a qualified lawyer is their new CEO for Aer Lingus.

BA has been embroiled in a bitter dispute with unions over redundancies and pay cuts as the airline navigates “the worst crisis” facing the industry.

BA’s policy of cutting 13, 000 staff has been heavily criticised by staff and MPs who claim the airline has been following a “fire and rehire” Policy, which left some employees facing pay cuts up to 50 per cent.

Luis Gallego CEO of IAG which owns BA said: “ We are navigating the worst crisis faced in our industry and I’m confident these internal promotions will ensure IAG is well placed to emerge in a strong position”.

Mr. Doyle is returning to BA after just two years in charge at Aer Lingus, which is also owned by IAG prior to that he had worked at BA since 1998.

During Mr. Cruz’s tenure as BA’s boss, the airline’s pilot strike in September last year led to 2, 325 flights being cancelled and cost BA  £124m (€ 137m), and in 2017 suffered several costly IT problems including an incident which left 75, 000 flyers stranded and cost airline another $80m.