Etihad Trims Management Team in the midst of restructuring

Etihad Airways takes decisive decision to help streamline its business into a thinner, flatter airline. Four senior members of the Abu Dhabi-based airline’s management team depart. Following their departure, there will be a realignment of roles and responsibilities within the carrier. Etihad says the changes will help address the challenges of flight in 2020.

Four departures from Etihad’s management team

Commercial director Robin Kamark leaves the airline. After a long career with SAS Scandinavian Airlines, Mr. Kamark served as CCO at Etihad for just over two years. Senior Vice President of Sales and Distribution Duncan Bureau is also leaving. Mr. Bureau’s stint in the Gulf was short, only 18 months. He cut his teeth in the airline industry with Air Canada and WestJet.

The third departure of Etihad’s leadership is the Chief Risk and Compliance Officer, Mutaz Saleh. The former PwC partner visited Etihad in May 2019. Finally, Chief Transformation Officer Akram Alam is also heading for the exit. Mr. Alam was with Etihad for almost two and a half years.

“As a responsible company, we can no longer continue to gradually adapt to a market which we believe has changed in the foreseeable future.” Etihad CEO Tony Douglas said in a statement on Sunday.

“This is why we are taking definitive and decisive steps to adjust our business and proudly position ourselves as a mid-size transporter.

“The first step is a change in the operating model that will allow us to restructure our management team and our organization to allow us to continue to fulfill our mandate.

Etihad controls costs and streamlines activity

The clearing up of management ranks at Etihad follows a loss of US $ 758 million in the first six months of 2020. This brought the accumulated losses at Etihad over the past half-decade to over $ 6 billion of dollars.

Etihad has long had a reputation for being a costly and expensive operation. The airline has tried to limit this more recently. The travel slowdown in 2020 highlighted the risks of Etihad’s old freewheeling exploitation strategy. Now, the airline is attempting to transition to what it calls “a full-service midsize carrier focusing on its wide-body fleet with a leaner, flatter and scalable organizational structure that supports the organic growth. ”

CEO, Tony Douglas remains in the hot seat at Etihad. Chief Digital Officer Frank Meyer, Chief Engineering Officer Abdul Khaliq Saeed and Chief Investment Officer Andrew Macfarlane will also retain their positions at the airline.

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The surviving management team worked harder than ever

The current Managing Director of Freight and Logistics, Martin Drew, will also assume the former position of Duncan Bureau. We will report directly to the Director of Operations, Mohammad Al Bulooki.

Mr. Al Bulooki, CFO, Adam Boukadida, and Executive Director Customer Experience, Brand and Marketing, Terry Daly, will both assume the responsibilities of Robin Kamark, as the role of Commercial Director ceases to exist.

Adam Boukadida will also take on many of the former responsibilities of Akram Alami and Mutaz Saleh at Etihad.

What is clear is that even if Etihad’s top management ranks are reduced, those who keep their jobs will be harder worked than ever. According to Mr. Douglas, streamlining the top management levels is necessary to ensure the sustainability of Etihad Airways.

“I must express my gratitude to each member of the team for having continuously proven our ability to adapt to the most unexpected circumstances.”