Johan Lundgren, who became CEO in December 2017, has been praised by EasyJet chair Stephen Hester for his leadership through the “immense challenges” of the COVID-19 pandemic and for developing a clear future strategy for the airline.
The announcement coincides with EasyJet’s half-year financial results, which show a £350 million loss from October 2023 to the end of March 2024. This loss is in line with previous expectations and represents a £61 million improvement year-on-year, driven by a 12 per cent increase in capacity and a 42 per cent increase in customer growth from EasyJet holidays.
Despite the winter losses, EasyJet is optimistic about its medium-term profit target of more than £1 billion. The carrier has 59 million seats on sale for the second half of 2024, an 8 per cent increase over the same period last year. Booking progress is also promising, with 77 per cent of Q3 seats and 39 per cent of Q4 seats already sold, both showing a 1 percentage point increase year-on-year.
Kenton Jarvis, who joined EasyJet in February 2021, will assume the CEO role in 2025 and is expected to “hit the ground running” with close collaboration from Lundgren during the transition. “I am a huge believer in the future for our airline, which is powered by the talents and enthusiasm of our front-line staff. I will be immensely proud to lead our teams to fulfil EasyJet’s bright potential,” Jarvis said.
The search for a new chief financial officer will commence shortly, according to the airline.
