Posts Tagged ‘Ireland’
Aer Lingus CEO Mannion on the move?
Was Manion wounded by the last Ryanair's last Takeover attempt? Image ©TWC 2009
Is Aer Lingus CEO Dermot Mannion preparing to leave?
UPDATE: 06 April 0600 LON:
Aer Lingus has annouced that Mannion will be leaving the airline with immediate effect, and that Chaiman Barrington will hold the interim responsibility.
In today’s Sunday Business Post, it is being reported that Mr Mannion is “preparing to leave the airline”. TWC tried to get independent confirmation from Aer Lingus PR, where were unable to reach anyone for comment.
It has not exactly been an illustrious couple of for Mannion since taking the helm at Aer Lingus. The latest takeover attempt mounted by Ryanair did not succeed in taking the airline, but it may have well wounded Mr. Mannion. Not to mention the latest dismal earnings reports, and the fairlure some of it’s new long-haul strategies to materialise a much needed profit.
Of the more colourful moments of the last takeover bid was the request of Mr Mannion for a “golden parachute” in the form of compensation in the event of compensation in the event of constructive dismissal, nearly unavoidable if Aer Lingus were to be takeover. After this new clause in his contract was exposed, by a suspected Ryanair leak, Mannion took the only honourable option and asked to have that removed. (Small side note for our UK readers: Sir Fred, did you hear that?)
That said, he did succeed in defending the carrier twice from the hands of O’Leary and Ryanair. In addition, he is to be credited for seeking out the new codeshare agreements with UA on the DC-Madrid, and the JetBlue codeshare partnership.
Will his departure put Aer Lingus in a weaker position?
Overall, we don’t think it could makes things much worse. At the moment, Ryanair has a bit of time before it can begin the process of another takeover bid. So there is some breathing room here for the airline’s Board of Directors to locate some top talent.
Readers: Your chance to play “fantasy casting” for new EI CEO:
While we have our picks of who we would cast in the role of the new Aer Lingus CEO, frankly it it is more important to us to hear what you think. So how about it? Who would you replace Mannion with? There is a lot of top talent out there at the moment, but will they go for such a mission impossible as Aer Lingus?
A bottle of fine John X. Merriman Rustenburg goes to the first person who correctly posts the what will eventually become the correct answer.*
*system time prevails, and all decisions of TWC judges are final. Shipping and handling included, except where prohibited by law.
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