Alex Cruz, the CEO of British Airways, is set to quit after heavy criticism following his management of the roughly 12,000 job cuts the company faced after a disastrous year for the industry in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
Alex Cruz had served as CEO of British Airways from April 2016 to October 2020. Photo: British Airways
He is to be replaced by Sean Doyle, the chairman of Aer Lingus, who is also due to take over Cruz's role of chairman after a transition period.
Both companies are part of the Internation Airlines Group (IAG), who have promoted Aer Lingus CAO Donal Moriarty to its executive position temporarily while a replacement is found.
IAG chief executive, Luis Gallego, said: “We’re 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.
“Cruz has led the airline through a particularly demanding period and has secured restructuring agreements with the vast majority of employees. As our new team comes together we remain focused on making the right operational and strategic decisions for the long-term benefit of all IAG’s shareholders.”
Cruz had been CEO of British Airways since 2016 and was charged with making the company cost-effective to help it compete with rivals.
The aviation industry was severely affected by the Covi-19 pandemic, with worries the entire sector could go under if restrictions on travel are not lifted soon.
The ill-effects of Brexit may also have unintended effects on the aerospace industry, among others.
Back in July, IAG reported a record loss of €3.2 billion owing to the effects the pandemic had on the travel and aerospace sectors. The company has warned that passenger demand will not return to normal levels until at least 2024.
The company expects capacity to fall by 63% in 2020, compared with the previous year, up from the 59% initially forecast. This trend is set to continue into next year, which is predicted to see a 27% drop from 2019 numbers.
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