Etihad restructures to cope with COVID-19 downturn

Etihad has announced a new organisational structure to meet the challenges of the global downturn in aviation. The restructuring sees the airline continuing its transformation into a mid-sized, full-service carrier concentrating on its fleet of widebody aircraft, with a leaner and flatter organisational structure.

Tony Douglas, group CEO of Etihad Aviation Group, said “after our best-ever Q1 performance, none of us could have predicted the challenges that lay ahead in the remainder of this year. I’m extremely proud of the way my leadership team and the whole Etihad family have navigated the COVID-19 crisis so far, and I must express my gratitude to each member of the team for continually proving our adaptability to the most unexpected of circumstances. As a responsible business, we can no longer continue to incrementally adapt to a marketplace that we believe has changed for the foreseeable future. That is why we are taking definitive and decisive action to adjust our business and position ourselves proudly as a mid-sized carrier. The first stage of this is an operational model change that will see us restructure our senior leadership team and our organisation to allow us to continue delivering on our mandate, ensuring long-term sustainability, and contributing to the growth and prominence of Abu Dhabi.”

The new operational model will result in a number of changes to the executive leadership team to streamline the organisational structure.

• Robin Kamark, chief commercial officer, has decided to leave the business, and following his departure, the business units within Commercial will be separated and transferred under the leadership of Mohammad Al Bulooki, chief operating officer, Adam Boukadida, chief financial officer, and Terry Daly, who will assume the role of executive director of Guest Experience, Brand & Marketing. Al Bulooki will assume responsibility for Network Planning, Sales, Revenue Management, Cargo & Logistics, Commercial Strategy Planning, and Alliances, in addition to his existing portfolio.
• Duncan Bureau, senior vice president for Sales & Distribution, will also be leaving Etihad. Reporting directly to Al Bulooki, Martin Drew will take on Duncan’s this in addition to his current responsibilities as managing director for Cargo & Logistics.
• As part of his new role, Daly will lead the Marketing, Brand & Partnerships department, and Etihad Guest, the airline’s loyalty programme, while continuing to oversee the Customer Experience & Service Delivery department.
• Following the departure of Akram Alami, chief transformation officer, the Procurement and Supply Chain department and Transformation Office will move under the leadership of Adam Boukadida. Boukadida will also assume responsibility for the Analytics department, which previously sat within the Commercial division. Ibrahim Nassir, chief human resources and organisational development officer, will have an additional responsibility for the Asset Management department.
• Finally, Mutaz Saleh will be leaving his position as chief risk and compliance Officer, after which Henning zur Hausen, general counsel, will take on additional responsibility for Ethics & Compliance, while Risk and Performance reporting will move under Boukadida, forming part of a new Corporate Strategy team. Business Continuity will transfer to Ahmed Al Qubaisi, senior vice president for Government, International & Communications.

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