EasyJet CFO Findlay Says He’ll Leave After Surviving Ouster Vote

(Bloomberg) -- EasyJet Plc Chief Financial Officer Andrew Findlay has informed the carrier that he plans to leave next year, days after facing down a demand for his removal from the board in a dramatic shareholder vote.

Findlay will stay on until May 2021 when his contract expires, EasyJet said in a statement Tuesday. The low-cost carrier said it would begin a search for his replacement.

On Friday, investors resolved to retain Findlay and three other directors, including Chief Executive Officer Johan Lundgren and Chairman John Barton. They were targeted for ouster by founder-turned-activist Stelios Haji-Ioannou, who has sought to pressure the company to cancel an order for more than 100 Airbus SE jets.

EasyJet has deferred delivery of 24 aircraft, helping to reduce near-term expenditure by more than 1 billion pounds. It’s also borrowed 1.1 billion pounds ($1.35 billion) to shore up liquidity, tapping into a U.K. guarantee program that Haji-Ioannou also opposed.

EasyJet plans to resume flights from 22 European airports on June 15, becoming one of the first airlines in the region to begin building up services as the coronavirus lockdown eases.

©2020 Bloomberg L.P.