Ryanair’s chief operating officer quits in wake of flight-cancellation crisis
London — Ryanair Holdings Plc’s flight-cancellation crisis enters its fourth week after the public furor over 20,000 scrapped services claimed the first senior manager at the Irish discount carrier and pilots stepped up moves toward unionisation. Chief operating officer Michael Hickey is leaving at the end of this month after almost three decades at the airline, Ryanair said late Friday, without naming a successor. Calling him a "hard act to replace", Hickey will remain in an advisory role while Ryanair searches for a suitable successor. The botched response to a pilot shortage, the result of sloppy vacation planning and defections to other carriers, has engulfed Ryanair for several weeks and enraged customers, regulators and politicians alike. Michael O’Leary, the hard-talking CEO, took the unusual step of making a personal pledge to pilots last week, offering improved pay and career prospects to avert an open rebellion among employees. O’Leary, who said previously that "villainisi...
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