AER LINGUS has appointed German Christoph Mueller as its new chief executive. Mr Mueller, a former executive with Tui Travel plc, will assume the role on October 1st. He replaces Dermot Mannion, who resigned from Aer Lingus in early April.
Mr Mueller could not be contacted for comment as he is on holiday.
In a statement, he said: “There were many challenges ahead” for Aer Lingus. “I am excited about the medium-term prospects for the business.”
Colm Barrington, Aer Lingus’s chairman, said: “We conducted a thorough and rigorous recruitment process and have chosen a candidate with a proven track record within the aviation industry.”
Mr Mueller will be responsible for implementing a new restructuring plan for the business to return the airline to profitability at a time of great turbulence for the aviation industry.
Aer Lingus recently announced plans to cut its transatlantic services by 25 per cent this winter “as a first step to right-sizing the business”, which has been badly affected by the recession.
Aer Lingus’s shares are trading at just 55 cents each, near their all-time low.
Earlier this year, Aer Lingus successfully defended itself against a second Ryanair takeover approach.
Ryanair owns just more than 29 per cent of its rival and offered €1.20 a share for Aer Lingus, half the level of its 2007 bid.
Mr Mueller left Tui Travel at the end of May. He was aviation director at the company and last year earned €990,000 with the company, including bonuses.
At the time of his departure from Tui, reports in German newspapers suggested that Mr Mueller had parted company with the travel group due to a failure to conclude proposed merger deals, notably with Germanwings, a subsidiary of Lufthansa.
The German executive joined Tui in January 2006, taking responsibility for their flight division.
Tui merged with First Choice Holidays in 2007 to form the current Tui Travel group, which is quoted in London.
During his time there, Mr Mueller managed seven airlines within the group, a fleet of 160 aircraft and 11,000 staff.
Mr Mueller was also the last chief executive of Sabena, the Belgian airline that collapsed in 2001.
In addition, he held senior roles within Daimler Benz Aerospace, Lufthansa, DHL and Deutsche Post.
It is not clear how many candidates were interviewed for the top job at Aer Lingus.
The airline’s former finance chief Brian Dunne, who now holds a senior role with Ace Aviation Holdings in Canada, was reported to be in the running for the position, while Aer Lingus’s current finance director Seán Coyle, who was recruited from Ryanair last year, was also linked with the position.
In a statement released yesterday, Ryanair said the board of Aer Lingus had “wasted months, and hundreds of thousands of euros” in finding a replacement for Mr Mannion.
