British Airways' controversial head Álex Cruz expelled

BA boss Álex Cruz has been booted after a turbulent tenure that nonetheless left the airline in better shape. What happens next? Matthew Partridge reports

Alex Cruz - former CEO & Chairman of British Airways © British Airways
Álex Cruz ended free food for economy passengers on short-haul flights
(Image credit: © British Airways)

With shares in International Consolidated Airlines Group (IAG) “bumping along at all-time lows”, IAG’s new boss Luis Gallego has decided to shake things up, say Robert Lea and Martin Strydom in The Times. He has forced out Álex Cruz, the controversial head of British Airways, which IAG owns. Cruz, who has been replaced with Sean Doyle of Aer Lingus, earned notoriety for scrapping complimentary food and drink for short-haul economy passengers and overseeing IT disasters that left passengers stranded. BA was branded a “national disgrace” under his management for its job-cutting strategy.

Many BA workers will see the departure of Cruz as “the first good news for cabin crew in months”, says Jim Armitage in the Evening Standard. But while his cuts “may not have been popular”, his overhaul has left airline in “better shape than most” to face Covid-19. Similarly, his decision to stop “chucking money away on rubbish freebies” on short-haul flights made sense given that BA faces tough competition from budget airlines. Most importantly, his success in increasing profit margins to 16% was a “big win” for shareholders and may have helped convince them to back IAG’s emergency fundraiser.

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Dr Matthew Partridge
Shares editor, MoneyWeek

Matthew graduated from the University of Durham in 2004; he then gained an MSc, followed by a PhD at the London School of Economics.

He has previously written for a wide range of publications, including the Guardian and the Economist, and also helped to run a newsletter on terrorism. He has spent time at Lehman Brothers, Citigroup and the consultancy Lombard Street Research.

Matthew is the author of Superinvestors: Lessons from the greatest investors in history, published by Harriman House, which has been translated into several languages. His second book, Investing Explained: The Accessible Guide to Building an Investment Portfolio, is published by Kogan Page.

As senior writer, he writes the shares and politics & economics pages, as well as weekly Blowing It and Great Frauds in History columns He also writes a fortnightly reviews page and trading tips, as well as regular cover stories and multi-page investment focus features.

Follow Matthew on Twitter: @DrMatthewPartri