IAG replaces BA CEO with Aer Lingus boss

LONDON (Reuters) – Airlines group IAG named Aer Lingus boss Sean Doyle as the new chief executive of British Airways, replacing Alex Cruz in the top job, one of a number of management changes announced by IAG’s new chief executive after a month in the job.

Luis Gallego, who took over as IAG CEO in September as the company tries to survive the COVID-19 slump in travel, stamped his mark on IAG on Monday, by promoting former BA employee Doyle to head up the company’s biggest airline BA on Monday.

Cruz had been BA boss since 2016 and will stay on as its non-executive chairman for a transition period, IAG said in its statement. Cruz and Gallego had previously worked together at Spanish airline Vueling, now also owned by IAG.

The last few months of Cruz’s tenure have been tough, as he was tasked with driving through 12,000 job cuts at BA, making him a frequent target of trade union hostility.

IAG said that the CEO of another of its airlines, LEVEL, would take on the new role of group chief transformation officer, while it named Aer Lingus insider Donal Moriarty as interim CEO.

(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by James Davey and Michael Holden)