On Monday, Luis Gallego, who took the helm at IAG last month, appointed Sean Doyle as the CEO of British Airways. Doyle will be replacing Alex Cruz with immediate effect.

The development marks a number of management changes in the Anglo-Spanish airlines group and marks a return of Doyle to BA, who incidentally had worked as director of network, fleet and alliances before leaving for Aer Lingus in 2019.

Cruz had been heading BA since 2016 and will stay on as its non-executive chairman during the transition period, said IAG.

Doyle has his task cut out: like all airlines BA is burning cash because of low levels of flights due to the coronavirus-induced pandemic.

In September 2020, IAG raised $3.24 billion (2.74 billion euros) in an effort to trim its debt and help it survive the pandemic.

“We’re navigating the worst crisis faced in our industry and I’m confident these internal promotions will ensure IAG is well placed to emerge in a strong position,” said Gallego in a statement.

The pandemic has been tough for Cruz especially since he was tasked with driving through 13,000 job cuts at BA, which made him a frequent target of hostility from BA’s trade union.

Incidentally, Gallego and Cruz have previously worked together at Spanish airline Vueling, which is now owned by IAG.

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