EasyJet Battling Its Own Demon
You would think easyJet had enough of its competitors to keep itself occupied, well apparently for some that’s not enough. Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, the airline’s founder and 38% shareholder has apparently decided to see how easyJet’s management handled trouble. And, since the beginning of August, he sure has brought trouble.
First Sir Stelios started by sending shareholdeers a tonitruous letter asking for the organization of an exceptional general meeting to vote the resignation of senior non-executive director Sir David Michels – in spite of the fact that he was already due to resign at the end of the year. At the time, easyJet is said to have considered handing out a special dividend to calm shareholders and counteract Sir Stelios.
But it seems as if, ever since Sir Michels handed a controversial 1.2 million pounds payment to prior-boss Andy Harrison, Sir Stelios’ wrath has known no bound. The 100 million pounds dividend was rumored to be distributed in November, and Sir Stelios couldn’t wait to rid the company of Sir Michels. Consequently the dividend has been cancelled and Sir Michels gently shown the door.
Surely a victory for Sir Stelios but far from the end of the war. Just this week, the ebullient investor led a new charge, this time against non-executive director Rigas Doganis. The irate Sir Stelios apparently won’t forgive Doganis’ decision to announce a profit warning and a 35 Airbus command within two weeks of each others. Not the smartest move you might say, and one that was swiftly punished by Stelios.
Yet, it’s starting to seem like the brazen founder is doing more harm than good to his company. He has already pushed away a CEO, a chairman, a finance director and another senior non-executive and is now – barely a year after her arrival – criticizing Carolyn McCall for “[having] lost all legitimacy to run this company”. Seeing the actual context of the low-cost market, it is high time Sir Stelios let go a little and focus on the company’s competitors.
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