KUALA LUMPUR, 21 Oct 2017:
The next chief operating officer at Malaysia Airlines could well become its chief executive officer thereafter – judging by how two previous COOs seemed to have tracked this path to helm the national carrier under Khazanah Nasional Bhd’s stewardship.
Malaysia Airlines has appointed current COO captain Izham Ismail as group CEO designate – replacing Peter Bellew, who quit to join Ryanair after a little more than a year in the job.
Bellew too was COO at Malaysia Airlines – appointed on 1 Sept 2015 when his predecessor Christoph Mueller was appointed CEO as part of the turnaround plan for the ailing national carrier.
This train of musical chairs began chugging as Mueller left just nine months later and Bellew was promoted to CEO at Malaysia Airlines on 1 July 2016.
On Tuesday, while most were focused on Deepavali eve festivities, Bellew’s tenure at Malaysia Airlines was confirmed to have been cut short – as his former employer Ryanair has announced him returning as COO as of Dec 1 this year.
Bellew is also triggering a change at Ryanair – Mick Hickey – who took over from Bellew as COO back in 2014 – is to leave the Irish carrier at the end of the month.
Meanwhile, Izham is already taking over at Malaysia Airlines – ahead of officially assuming the group CEO post on Dec 1 – in the absence of Bellew who is now on leave.
After the announcement by Malaysia Airlines yesterday, Bellew posted on Instagram: “He will be a great leader of this special airline. I am very proud of you Izham. I’ll pray for your success.I hope you still have me on speed dial.”
Bellew, an Irishman, later said a sense of responsibility to his native country led to his decision to leave.
Mueller cited personal circumstances for leaving, then later joined Emirates as its chief digital and transformation officer.
Despite the leadership changes at the national carrier, Khazanah yesterday reiterated its commitment to the five-year turnaround plan for Malaysia Airlines – which has been restructuring its fleet, aiming to achieve profitability in 2018 and to re-list its shares on the stock exchange in 2019.