SEPANG, 17 Oct 2017:
Since the turnaround plan for ailing Malaysia Airlines saw the appointment of Christoph Mueller as chief executive officer on 1 Sept 2015, the national carrier has already seen him cut short his tenure – and now, so too has his replacement Peter Bellew.
In a statement, the national carrier said: “Malaysia Airlines takes note of the unexpected announcement by RyanAir Holdings plc to the London Stock Exchange regarding CEO Peter Bellew.”
Clearly shocked by this turn of events, the national carrier added: “At a press conference with Malaysian and international media on 27 Sept 2017, Bellew had expressed his commitment to Malaysia Airlines when asked to comment on speculation that he would re-join RyanAir.
“He said that he was happy to be in Malaysia and that the turnaround of Malaysia Airlines would be ‘the greatest achievement of my life’.
“The Malaysia Airlines board of directors will meet and an announcement will be made in due course. Our operations and services continue as normal, and our commitment and priority remains with our customers.
“The turnaround of Malaysia Airlines remains on track and on schedule, as per the MAS Recovery Plan.”
Bellew had joined Malaysia Airlines as chief operating officer at the same time Mueller was appointed CEO. When Mueller left just nine months later, Bellew was promoted to CEO at Malaysia Airlines on 1 July 2016.
Bellew’s tenure has also been cut short as his former employer Ryanair has announced him returning as chief operations officer as of Dec 1 this year.
The Irish airline said in a statement Bellew will be given specific responsibility to help the airline address a pilot staffing issue that led to thousands of flight cancellations.
His return underlines a a mission to ensure the pilot rostering failure which Ryanair suffered last month – resulting in over 700,000 passengers inconvenienced and 20,000-odd flights cancelled – will never be repeated.
Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary said Bellow had unrivalled knowledge of the business model and how the company maintains “controlled growth.”
The statement from Ryanair also had Bellew stating he was “excited to return home to Ryanair” and take up the challenge to grow the operation sustainably.
“I look forward to working with all the team and all the crews I know so well to further develop our growth to 600 aircraft over the next six years.”
Meanwhile, Mick Hickey – who took over from Bellew as chief operations officer back in 2014 – is to leave Ryanair at the end of the month.