EasyJet’s chief executive, Johan Lundgren, will step down at the beginning of next year after seven years at the helm of the budget airline.
The carrier is promoting its chief financial officer, Kenton Jarvis, to take his place, with Lundgren to hand over the reins on January 1, 2025. The outgoing boss will stay with the business until mid-May as part of the airline’s “orderly succession plan”.
Lundgren has had an eventful tenure. He became CEO of EasyJet at the end of 2017, after serving as second in command at the rival travel firm Tui, and has more than 30 years of experience in the travel industry. His leadership was put to the test two years into his term when pandemic lockdowns grounded plans and put airlines under severe financial strain. This resulted in staff layoffs, and later rehiring as air travel started to recover.
Jarvis will take over after three years as EasyJet’s CFO. Before EasyJet, Jarvis worked in a number of roles at Tui, including chief executive of its airline division. Previously, he worked at the accounting firm PwC, Airtours Holidays, and held finance roles at the sports group Adidas.
Details of the planned change at the top came as the group reported a pre-tax loss of £347 million for the six months to March 31, narrowed from losses of £415 million a year ago.
