Scandinavia Air (SAS) loses CEO at ‘critical’ time as airlines suffer

Photographer: Carsten Snejbjerg / Bloomberg

SAS AB, Scandinavia’s largest carrier, is splitting from CEO Rickard Gustafson, leaving it to search for a replacement at a historically difficult time for the airline industry.

Stockholm-based company announced Monday night that Gustafson was stepping down after a decade at the helm. The 56 year old man is going become CEO of the Swedish industrial giant SKF AB.

For SAS, the loss of its CEO means the board will have to find someone willing to take on the gargantuan task of running the company amid a pandemic that has already dealt air travel a hard blow. Gustafson intends to leave the company no later than July 1.

“The task of relaunching SAS is enormous,” Sydbank analysts wrote in a note. The company “aspires to continuity and someone who has a deep understanding of the airline industry and the complexity of SAS. The departure of Rickard Gustafson therefore leaves SAS in a vacuum at a critical moment.

The company’s shares have slipped around 6% this year after plunging 56% in 2020.

SAS chairman Carsten Dilling said he was “disappointed and sorry” that Gustafson was leaving.

“SAS is still in a critical – but stable – position and of course the board immediately began the process of appointing a new SAS president and CEO,” he said in the statement.