Originally Posted by
simons1
With respect, why do you think you are in a better position than the BA board to tell whether he is the best candidate? Which candidates would you have said stood out?
And how do you know what brief the new CEO has been given in terms of route strategy etc?
I would be trying to poach Temil Kotil, James Hogan, or Tim Clark as I think all three of them have done excellent things with their respective airlines. Alternatively, I would take a gamble by hiring someone with a strong background in luxury hotels (Allen Smith) than I would airlines. After a year shadowing the CEO to pick up the basics of the airline industry I would give him the reigns. I am not convinced the BA CEO has a lot of control when IAG is looking over things, but I do think BA needs to take a risk on something new. I also believe BA are in the position to do so.
Your third question: I think the appointment of an ex-LCC CEO as BA CEO, talk of cutting cots, talk of integration with Vueling on the A320 family, and public comparison to easyJet and Virgin - one LCC flying short haul and one airline that does not offer a First class product and has a completely different culture to BA - speaks volumes. It appears to me IAG is focussed on turning BA into an LCC with thrills, rather than a legacy airline with corners cut.
Originally Posted by
Globaliser
I really wonder whether you have a clue as to what happened at AA or at FR. Or, for that matter, at NCL - at which the picture has been complicated enormously by ownership issues and cash flow problems.
By my own admission I do not know fully about AA or FR, but NCL I know more about.