easyJet Appoints Carolyn McCall as New CEO

The well known airline easyJet has just recently appointed a new CEO to replace Andy Harrison, who will now be the chief executive of leisure and hospitality firm Whitbread. This new chief executive at the airline will be Carolyn McCall, who has been the head of publishing firm Guardian Media Group, and she is apparently one tough cookie.

According to reports, McCall joins the low cost airline following a number of changes at director level within the company itself. Of course, it stands to reason that one of the changes was the departure of Harrison, who McCall is replacing.

It was claimed that easyJet’s founder and majority shareholder, Sir Stelios Haji Ioannou, did not support the board’s aggressive growth strategy during the recession. This was something that Sir Stelios and Harrison apparently did not see eye-to eye-on.

Either way, McCall, who actually won the Veuve Cliquit Business Woman award back in 2008, has been described as one of the toughest operators to have risen through the ranks of the Guardian Media Group. McCall will also now be the chair of Opportunity Now, which promotes business opportunities for women.

Some experts have said that the departure of Harrison was a direct result of his ongoing battle with Sir Stelios. However, others are quick to point out that they do not think that is the case. This could be one departure that no one may ever truly figured out. Although some say that Harrison said that he was ready to move on, others still think that he could have been forced to do so to make it look good to the public eye.