The word on the street was right – UK low-cost carrier easyJet has gone outside the airline industry to recruit its new chief executive to replace the retiring Ray Webster. However Andrew Harrison, 48, named in August as the new head of the European low-cost carrier, does have a transport background; he is the chief executive of the UK’s motor services group RAC.
Ever since Webster announced he was stepping down in May, easyJet’s emphasis has been on hiring an executive with “senior management experience in a large and well recognised consumer-facing company”. Harrison has been with RAC since 1996 and has transformed it from a vehicle distribution company into a “strongly branded, consumer-facing services company with 6.5 million members”, says the carrier in a statement.
Harrison will feel instantly at home with easyJet’s orange branding. As Andrew Lobbenberg, lead analyst at London-based ABN AMRO notes, one of his key moves at RAC was to rebrand its old red, white and blue roadside assistance vehicles to bright orange, easyJet’s corporate colour.
Harrison’s arrival, and the retirement of Ed Winter, an easyJet, Go and British Airways veteran, in September, means the largest shake-up in the carrier’s management team for several years. The time taken to find Harrison has led the carrier to delay naming a new commercial director, following the departure of Mike Cooper earlier this year, although a search for a replacement is under way.
Winter and Webster may be retained as consultants but it is not certain whether Winter’s chief operating officer position, which encompasses legal affairs and airport and contract negotiations, will be retained or rolled into a new position. One possibility is operations director Mike Szucs being promoted to chief operating officer.
MARK PILLING/LONDON
Ever since Webster announced he was stepping down in May, easyJet’s emphasis has been on hiring an executive with “senior management experience in a large and well recognised consumer-facing company”. Harrison has been with RAC since 1996 and has transformed it from a vehicle distribution company into a “strongly branded, consumer-facing services company with 6.5 million members”, says the carrier in a statement.
Harrison will feel instantly at home with easyJet’s orange branding. As Andrew Lobbenberg, lead analyst at London-based ABN AMRO notes, one of his key moves at RAC was to rebrand its old red, white and blue roadside assistance vehicles to bright orange, easyJet’s corporate colour.
Harrison’s arrival, and the retirement of Ed Winter, an easyJet, Go and British Airways veteran, in September, means the largest shake-up in the carrier’s management team for several years. The time taken to find Harrison has led the carrier to delay naming a new commercial director, following the departure of Mike Cooper earlier this year, although a search for a replacement is under way.
Winter and Webster may be retained as consultants but it is not certain whether Winter’s chief operating officer position, which encompasses legal affairs and airport and contract negotiations, will be retained or rolled into a new position. One possibility is operations director Mike Szucs being promoted to chief operating officer.
MARK PILLING/LONDON
Source: Airline Business
