New CEO of EasyJet named
 

EasyJet have announced Andy Harrison to take over from Ray Webster. Unusual move - don't have any awareness of a background in aviation for Harrison, who's ex-RAC.

hey - but he's sticking to orange!!!!!!!!!!

From the company's intranet:

At 10am today we announced that Andrew Harrison will be replacing Ray Webster as Chief Executive of easyJet.

Andrew brings a wealth of experience from consumer-facing businesses and will join us full-time on the 1st of December. In the intervening three months, he will take time to understand our business. You'll see him at airports, on the aircraft (ours and our competitors!), around easyLand, at the bases - pretty much everywhere.

Andrew, 48, was previously the Chief Executive of RAC plc (which provides motoring products and services in the UK, France and Ireland) prior to its acquisition by Aviva plc earlier this year.

Andrew joined Lex Service plc in 1996 as Chief Executive and led its transformation from a vehicle distribution company into RAC plc, a strongly-branded, consumer-facing services company with 6.5 million members. RAC plc delivered strong growth in a variety of consumer services, which included BSM, financial and legal services, as well as good expansion in business services, winning large contracts. The successful integration of Lex and RAC resulted in a strong rise in profits and a tripling of the share price during Andrew's tenure as Chief Executive.

Since 2000 Andrew has been a Non-Executive Director at Emap, where he chairs the Audit Committee. Prior to Lex Service, Andrew was an Executive Director of Courtaulds Textiles plc since 1990.

Commenting Sir Colin Chandler, Chairman of easyJet, says:
"I am very pleased that Andrew has agreed to join easyJet. This is the successful conclusion of a rigorous search process conducted by a professional search company which assessed candidates across a wide range of consumer-facing industries.

"We had a number of criteria that our new CEO had to meet; in particular, he or she needed to have had senior management experience in a large and well recognised consumer-facing plc. In addition, Andrew has delivered strong top and bottom line growth, improved cash generation, introduced cost efficiencies and inspired employees in a service industry."

Andrew says:
"easyJet has an exciting future ahead, continuing to deliver rapid growth and further building upon its strong position in the rapidly expanding European low-cost airline market. I look forward to leading the easyJet team to make this happen.

"I believe business is about people and easyJet is very much a people organisation. I come from a people-intensive service business where success has been built around the quality and commitment of our people - and I believe this philosophy will fit well at easyJet."

Andrew is married and has three children (aged 18, 15 and 10). He lives in St Albans (about 20 miles from Luton) and lists family, flying (he just achieved his Private Pilot's Licence), skiing and football as his main interests outside of work.

... he's got a PPL!! :rolleyes:


After Stelios, the man with the image they had Ray -noimage-Webster and now.....??Who??

A survey revealed that around 75% of interviewed easyJet pax thought Stelios was still the main man, which he hasn't been for over a long time now. This should have signaled they really needed to search for a CEO with an image, a character (like O'leary / Stelios / Cassani).

Interesting to see how the shareprice will react to this news.

(Lost £20,-, my money was on a Cassani return :( )

Wouldn't the world get on a whole lot better if "management" stuck to managing instead of talking this kind idiotic nonsensical ****-speak?

And what a missed opportunity, not taking Barbara...Still, I expect that if this character can fix cars he knows how to run an airline too, why ever not???

Consumer facing my @rse.

The RAC.... advised by Mike Szucs who sends aerplanes flying without the mandatory documentation on board... Rostered by an accountant....with CRM training by he who knows EVERYTHING...

Christ its getting desperate..... Time to leave me thinks.

Shares have risen 4.75p to 296.5p. Even if his only aviation background is a PPL, he's got a good rep in the City.

Never heard of him - but who cares? Any one is better than the *one* we have now.

Welcome Andrew, your a breath of fresh air!

Welcome on board! :)

With a RAC background, I look forward to excellent engineering support if I have to divert with a guaranteed attendance within the hour and either a tow to the nearest easyTech base or overnight accommodation if the problem cannot be fixed on the roadside.

OK then, if not O'Leary, then Paul Stoddart. No problem with replacement parts and experienced in quick turnarounds (F1).

Andy Harrison
 

He's a good man with a solid record of achievement at RAC where people I know rated him as a boss.
Sure, he doesn't have an airline background, but did Branson in '84, or Stelios in '95?
He is a good leader, a decent manager, City friendly, and because he's not an aviation man, he probably doesn't have too many fixed ideas and will have to listen to the experts around him. So it's up to those experts to brief him properly.

Cassani work for Easyjet? When hell freezes over maybe.........

So far he seems to de doing alright :D Plenty of airlines could do with a CEO with a bit of spark about them, U2 included.

Plenty of airlines are run by people who aren't nessecarily "qualified". What qualifications are there?

Experts? ;) I wouldn't go that far about some of them :D

As but "image" isn't everything, now is it. Just because you don't like them, it doesn't mean they aren't good at what they do.

Some of..of course, you know what they say about the people who have a bad experience telling more than the people who have good experiences. Vocal minority versus silent majority perhaps? ;)

Nerik, She very nearly did. She was offered a seat on the board but declined it as she was only interested in running the company, isn't that so?

why would casanni work for another lo co when she had one of her own 3 yrs ago????? doesn't make sense. can't believe some of you honestly thought she would come back. she doesn't seem to stay in anything too long .................look at the olympics

When aviation needs B Cassani she will be ready!
It will not be as CEO of easyJet though!
As for the Olympics, she has been there all the time, as deputy chairman to Lord Ovett-Cramm-Coe. If she had stayed as Chairman, London might not have won the Olympics. She was even asked by a journalist if she was upset that New York had lost the bid at the final announcement in Singapore! It's called working in the background!
Some might wish she had stayed as Chairman of the bid!!!!
By the way Stockpicker, I think he was named many years ago by his parents at the christening. His name has been announced! Pedantry rules!

I meant not what he is like as a boss but as a character that at leasts stands out and is noted by the travelling public.
Stelios was also a good example. If you ask people who R Webster is I doubt it if he would be associated with ezy at all.


Cassani was crying behind her desk when it was clear that 3i had given the go ahead for the take over by easyjet. She had put a lot of work in the company and was very much a people person and was highly respected.
She couldn't stay on the board of the new easy personally.
She has never ruled out that she wouldn't come back (also stated in her book).
I am sure it could have been the biggest stunt in Loco sector if she had become the new CEO with Stelios on the board.

:D

Yeah, it´s a missed opportunity not to have Cassani as CEO, but let´s give this new guy (what´s his name again?) a chance.
He can´t be any worse than RW...

:)

Read the post from LGS6753, don't know the RAC man personally but the post is absolutely correct, you don't need to be a 'Name' to run a business successfully.

Now the contentious bit..... I DO know Michael O'Leary personally, I mean know him not just heard of him or seen him, let there be no doubt he is one of the greatest entrepreneurs in the airline business today, not one of the most popular but when it comes to pleasing the shareholders that doesn't matter.

Good luck easyjet and your new leader!