easyJet execs jet off to Mallorca resort while passengers bear weight of travel chaos
easyJet’s senior executives are jetting off to Mallorca this week while thousands of passengers bear the weight of the ongoing travel chaos.
The airline’s management team are set to have a two-night corporate retreat at luxury resort Iberostar in Palma, which counts an infinity pool and a sunset champagne bar among its many amenities.
Bosses – including chief executive Johan Lundgren – will leave on Tuesday from Luton and Gatwick and travel priority, as first reported by the Sunday Times.
Lundgren owns a property on the island and it is believe he worked from the Mallorca instead of from Luton Airport, easyJet’s headquarters, from time to time.
Sources told the outlet this would be Lundgren’s first trip in more than two months, while the carrier argued it was an “entirely appropriate” decision.
“As a pan-European airline with more than half of our flights originating in Europe, it is entirely appropriate for the management board to undertake business meetings around the network as well as regularly travel to our European bases to meet with crew and pilots,” a company spokesperson said.
“The entire management board remains absolutely focused on the daily operation in order to deliver a safe and reliable service for customers this summer.”
The retreat comes at a delicate time for the company image-wise, as easyJet said in June it didn’t know how many flights it would have to cancel across its network.
“I can’t tell you how many flights will be impacted,” Lundgren told reporters on 20 June. “It would be misleading for me to give any numbers today because we simply don’t know.”
According to calculations, the low-cost carrier has axed one in 10 flights for the July-September period, but said most passengers had been notified in advance and given either a refund or the possibility to rebook.
Bernstein analyst have forecast cancellations could cost the carrier up to £200m this year, turning its profit expectations into a loss.