Winds of change blow over EasyJet in boardroom revamp

EasyJet has ushered in a trio of new non-executive directors onto its board, as three announce their departure from the airline.

Ex-eBay Harald Eisenächer, CEO of Swiss logistics business Kuehne + Nagel Dr Detlef Trefzger and the former chief operating officer for Dubai Airports Ryanne van der Eijk will step onto the board at the beginning of September.

Eisenächer will join the remuneration and finance committees, Trefzger will become a member of the audit and safety committee and Van der Eijk will step into the safety committee and also become one of the board’s employee representative directors.

After four years, Nick Leeder has decided to leave his seat on 30 September, as his relocates to Singapore.

While Andres Bierwirth has, after nearly a decade on the airlines board, had announced that he will not be seeking re-election at EasyJet’s next annual general meeting next year, alongside senior independent director Julie Southern, who exits after five years and will join British technology group RWS Holdings as chair designate.

While Moni Mannings, who was appointed as EasyJet’s independent director in 2020, will become a member of the nominations committee.

The appointment of Southern’s successor and changes to the committees will be “announced in due course” when Southern and Bierwirth stand down in 2023, the company said in a statement today.

Chairman Stephen Hester said the incoming trio “bring us extensive airline and travel industry experience, with extra focus on operations and logistics, customer experience, digital and data. This, combined with their European outlook will further strengthen the board.

“On behalf of the board, I would like to take the opportunity thank Nick for his contribution during his tenure and wish him well for the future. I am also pleased that we will continue to benefit from Julie and Andreas’ experience through to February next year.”

According to Francesco Ragni, aviation professor at Buckinghamshire New University, changes at the board’s level are very normal.

“It looks to me like it was very physiological,” he told Morning Wire “The three outgoing members had a long tenure while the incoming three are top level.”

Easyjet suffered a £130m loss in the three months ended 30 June due to travel disruption and short-staffing, Morning Wire reported.

But the airline said in late July it was expecting bookings to soar in the fourth quarter, as 71 per cent of flight was already booked and ticket yield was 13 per cent above 2019 levels.