EasyJet hires rail freight exec as CFO ahead of leadership shake-up

EasyJet has named Jan De Raeymaeker as its next chief financial officer ahead of a looming leadership reshuffle at Europe’s second largest airline.

De Raeymaeker, who current holds the same role at private rail freight operator Lineas, will join in January when his predecessor Kenton Jarvis is set to take on the job as chief executive.

The executive, who will earn an annual salary of £550,000 before bonuses, previously led finance operation at Brussels Airways during a period of commercial repositioning.

EasyJet char Stephen Hester said De Raeymaeker has ‘good experience in the airline and transport sectors as well as strong continental European reference points’.

Incoming boss Jarvis is set to replace Johan Lundgren next year, tasked with delivering full-year profits of £1billion by 2028-29 at the latest.

Lundgren intends to stand down from his role at the beginning of 2025 following a turbulent seven-year stint marked indelibly by the Covid-19 pandemic.

Tough cross-border travel curbs earlier this decade caused considerable financial damage to the global airline industry, resulting in massive job losses and some air carriers going bankrupt.

EasyJet shares have struggled for momentum this year, falling around 1.5 per cent,  as geopolitical tensions drive concerns about the outlook for the cost of jet fuel and disruption to international travel.

That is despite EasyJet telling investors in July it expected to post a record-breaking summer this year as soaring demand drives higher profits, while rivals like Ryanair struggle by comparison.

It sold 1.5 million more peak season seats than at the same time last year in the three months ending June,

Jarvis said his replacement as CFO brings ‘a deep knowledge of the transport and airline sector, which we believe will be of significant benefit to easyJet going forward’.

He added: ‘[De Raeymaeker’s] financial and commercial acumen will be critical as we continue to build towards the delivery of our medium term targets and our purpose of making low cost travel easy. I look forward to working closely with him.’

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