Mr Michael Foley, who joins Aer Lingus as chief executive this morning, faces a complex flotation now likely to be delayed until next March.
The former president and chief operations officer of Heineken USA replaces Mr Garry Cullen, whose reluctance to lead an initial public offering (IPO) prompted his resignation last February. Yet while the airline's management has continued to work on the privatisation in the seven months since Mr Cullen's departure, crucial issues remain unresolved.
Vitally, enabling legislation to allow the flotation proceed has yet to pass the Oireachtas. While the Government may attempt to rush the Bill through the Dail stage, it will be aware also that other difficult issues such as pay negotiations, changes to the airline's pension scheme and an employee share option plan (ESOP) have yet to finalised. Particular difficulties have also emerged between the two trade unions who represent most Aer Lingus staff.
IMPACT claims some 1,400 of the airline's 1,644 cabin crew have left SIPTU and joined it in protest at what they claim was a "poor service" from the State's largest union. SIPTU disputes this. In addition, the airline's pilots - who are affiliated to IMPACT - have submitted a pay claim for parity with their counterparts in British Airways, now linked to Aer Lingus in the OneWorld alliance. This would mean rises in excess of 30 per cent in some cases. But managers at Aer Lingus - unsurprisingly - are thought to regard the claim as unsustainable, arguing that pay should be set in accordance with the company's individual performance.
There are also fears that the pilots' claim could lead to similar counter-claims by workers on other grades at the airline, who are negotiating productivity-related increases at much lower rates.
Either way, the airline is far from entering the final phase of the flotation process. If Aer Lingus was to be floated in November - management's target earlier this year - such matters would have to be resolved quickly. People close to the process cite a growing sense that the flotation could be postponed, most likely until March.
For Mr Foley, who has never led an IPO nor managed an airline, this may provide an opportunity to hone his preparation for the task.
An accountant from Co Wexford, he was headhunted by Aer Lingus after developing Heineken's $800 million US business since 1994 from a very small start.
While the timing of the flotation is in question, few observers doubt what its ultimate outcome will be if its goes ahead.
With the consolidation of the European airline business seen as ever more likely, the perception is that Aer Lingus will be subsumed into a larger operator - BA perhaps - once floated on the stock exchange.
Managers at Aer Lingus are said to favour a strong institutional offering of its stock to make such a process easier.
Whether this happens or not, Mr Foley will be the last man to lead Aer Lingus under State ownership. Given the task ahead, he is believed to be earning a salary in the region of £200,000, about twice the rate paid to Mr Cullen.
