Why, oh why is Sir Stelios still angry with easyJet?
EasyJet has been performing quite smoothly this last semester: No volanic ashes, little in the way of massive strikes, decent passengers volume in spite of a looming economic crisis. Yet, one person was determined to not let anyone in the airline’s management enjoy a bit of fun. That person, you might have guessed, is Sir Stelios. In fact, the airline founder and – since then – billionaire has decided that even if he’s not in charge of managing the company anymore, this shouldn’t mean he can’t make decisions.
Since the end of this summer, Sir Stelios has drawn his old company into a long an embittered battle. While the founder has repeatedly openly criticized easyJet’s management decisions, it quickly appeared that he was really in the battle for the money. It cost easyJet two non-executive directors before the board decided to tame the lion with the appetizing promess of a special dividend.
Sadly, it seems Carolyn McCall’s team underestimated Sir Stelios’ ambitions, as the team made the minor mistake of upping twice in a short time its profit forecast. That had an effect very similar to pulling a bag of candy out of your pocket right after a bully took your lunch, and it didn’t miss: within a weeek, information “leaked” that Sir Stelios was planning to launch a new airline. He even went so far as to call himself the victim of a smear-campaign (albeit a poorly executed one).
That last claim will be hard to maintain much longer now though. After easyJet announced more than decent results and handed out the promised the dividend, Sir Stelios came back full canter to rant against the company’s strategic choices. In a letter to a select lot of investors, Sir Stelios claimed easyJet’s strategy was irrational, likening to troubled holiday company Thomas Cook. More precisely, Sir Stelios appears to be strongly against any new aircraft order – in spite of the board’s approval of a 15 aircraft order for next year – and laments the fact that Carolyn McCall is turning “his” airline into a holiday airline by operating summer-only route – a move that more or less every other low-cost makes come the summer.
Sir Stelios has called for an Extraordinary General Meeting, promising he would go as far as voting against the entire board, putting the weight of his 37,4% shareholding of the company against any decisions he may not find to his liking. Another more direct threat is that he will throw out yet another non-executive director. This time Adele Anderson seems to be on top of his list. Let’s hope for easyJet he’s not after after another dividend because, by the time the airline gets enough money, it might cost it a few more directors. Or perhaps, hopefully, Sir Stelios will see that his strategy is bound to be completely counter-productive and may only slow easyJet in the end.
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