Álex Cruz
Born
Álex Cruz de Llano

1966 (age 57–58)
Bilbao, Spain
Alma materCentral Michigan University
Ohio State University (MSc)
OccupationBusinessman
Employer(s)British Airways
International Airlines Group
TitleFormer CEO of British Airways
Term2016–2020
PredecessorKeith Williams
SuccessorSean Doyle
Children4

Álex Cruz de Llano (born 1966) is a Spanish businessman, former chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of British Airways and former CEO of Vueling.

Early life

Cruz was born and grew up in Bilbao, in the Spanish province of Biscay.[1] He studied engineering at Central Michigan University in Mount Pleasant, Michigan from 1984 to 1988.[2] He gained an MSc from Ohio State University in Columbus, Ohio, studying there from 1988 to 1990.[2] In 1993, he attended an executive education program at Cox School of Business at Southern Methodist University in Dallas, Texas, while he was working for American Airlines.

Career

Cruz started his career with American Airlines, working for them in London for five years from 1990 to 1995. From 1995 to 2000, he worked for Sabre Corporation, a technological division of American Airlines.

Vueling

In summer 2006, Cruz became the founding CEO of Clickair, a low-cost airline. This became part of Vueling in July 2009; Spain's second-largest airline with 163 destinations.[3]

British Airways

In November 2015, Cruz was hired by the CEO of International Airlines Group, Willie Walsh,[4] as the next CEO and chairman of British Airways, to begin in April 2016. International Airlines Group, the owner of British Airways, also owns Vueling. Cruz succeeded Keith Williams.[5]

In 2016 Cruz made 700 British Airways employees redundant when he closed down the airline's computer department. He then outsourced the company's computer systems to the Indian company Tata Consultancy Services, drawing negative comment from a trade unionist.[6] On 7th September 2018, British Airways announced that their online reservation systems had been accessed by an unauthorised third party. Between 21 August 2018 and 5 September 2018, the sensitive data of more than 420,000 British Airways customers was compromised. Initially, BA was fined £183 million by the Information Commissioner’s Office – a regulator – for the breach. However, in October 2020 a decision was granted to levy the fine, reducing it to £20 million.

On the environmental impact of aviation, he said in August 2019 that British Airways and its competitors had to start "thinking about flying in different ways".[7]

In April 2020, during the global collapse in air travel brought along by the COVID-19 pandemic, he told British Airways' staff that he had set out plans to make up to 12,000 of them redundant. Unite the Union decried the move as "heartless", saying "to reject government support but then expect their own staff to pay the cost... is irresponsible, dangerous and destructive".[8]

On 12 October 2020, it was announced that Sean Doyle, CEO of Aer Lingus (also part of International Airlines Group (IAG)) would succeed Cruz as CEO of British Airways.[9] The move was carried out by IAG's new CEO Luis Gallego. There was a transition period in which he remained as non-executive chairman at British Airways[10] in the run-up to Doyle also taking over that role in April 2021.[11]

Personal life

He is married with four children,[12] and lives in North London.[12]

References

  1. ↑ "Alex Cruz, presidente de Vueling, premio Reconocimiento de Cecot". Expansion.com. 16 October 2015. Retrieved 7 November 2015.
  2. 1 2 "Alex Cruz". Bloomberg. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
  3. ↑ "Flight destinations | vueling.com". www.vueling.com. Retrieved 30 December 2016.
  4. ↑ Powley, Tanya (1 May 2020). "Alex Cruz, BA boss suffering from altitude sickness". Financial Times. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  5. ↑ Davies, Rob (6 October 2015). "British Airways: Alex Cruz to replace Keith Williams as chairman". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 May 2017.
  6. ↑ Revesz, Rachael (29 May 2017). "BA flight chaos blamed on new CEO's cost-cutting measures". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  7. ↑ Batchelor, Tom (6 August 2019). "British Airways boss says airlines must 'think about flying in different ways' to reduce environmental impact". The Independent. Archived from the original on 7 May 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  8. ↑ Neate, Rupert (28 April 2020). "British Airways plans to make up to 12,000 staff redundant". The Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2020.
  9. ↑ Sweney, Mark (12 October 2020). "Alex Cruz steps down as BA chief in wake of Covid job cuts row". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  10. ↑ "British Airways' boss replaced amid industry's 'worst crisis'". BBC News. 12 October 2020. Retrieved 12 October 2020.
  11. ↑ "SEAN DOYLE, BRITISH AIRWAYS' CHAIRMAN AND CEO". mediacentre.britishairways.com. 30 October 2020. Retrieved 4 July 2021.
  12. 1 2 "Come fly with me - Business - Chinadaily.com.cn". www.chinadaily.com.cn. Retrieved 5 September 2019.
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