Bruce Ashby is to step down as oneworld chief executive officer later this year, after more than five years leading the airline alliance.
He has made himself available to stay at oneworld’s helm until June to “enable a seamless handover to his successor”.
After accepting his resignation, the oneworld governing board says it has began an appointment process to fill his position. It says candidates from within the alliance and from outside will be considered.
Ashby says: “It has been a privilege to lead oneworld and work with its collection of the world’s leading airlines, but after five years in this role it makes sense for me to move on at this time.”
Since taking up his oneworld role in December 2010, oneworld added more than 15 carriers as full or affiliate members, expanding the alliance’s capacity by almost 60 per cent.
These included TAM Airlines, US Airways, now part of American Airlines, Qatar Airways, airberlin, Malaysia Airlines, SriLankan Airlines, and affiliate members, including LAN Colombia and OpenSkies.
