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* New CEO has no airline industry experience
* Led listing of Statoil's petrol station business in 2010
* Interim CEO continues as deputy CEO, CFO
(Adds background, share price, bullet points)
By Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche
OSLO, Nov 20 (Reuters) - Loss-making Norwegian Air
has appointed Jacob Schram as chief executive to take charge of
the budget carrier's ongoing restructuring as it struggles with
a low-cost, long-haul model in an overcrowded industry.
Schram, who does not have a background in aviation, joins
Norwegian from McKinsey, where he worked as an advisor,
Norwegian's board said on Wednesday.
He replaces Bjoern Kjos, Norwegian's founder who stepped
down in July after building the carrier into Europe's
third-largest budget airline, shaking up the market for
translatlantic travel with low fares to challenge traditional
carriers such as IAG's British Airways.
Schram, 57, will be tasked with cutting costs and making the
airline profitable again after a breakneck expansion left it
with hefty losses and high debts, forcing it to repeatedly ask
shareholders for new funds to stave off collapse.
That will be no easy job in an industry plagued with
overcapacity that has seen the grounding of several operators
this year alone.
"(Schram's) extensive management experience from global
companies, proven leadership skills, strong commercial consumer
orientation and impressive track record of value creation will
greatly benefit Norwegian as the company enters into a new
phase," board Chairman Niels Smedegaard said in a statement.
In 2010, Schram led the process to list Statoil's petrol
station business, Statoil Fuel and Retail, later acquired by
Canada's Couche-Tard to become Circle K.
Norwegian has been run on an interim basis since July by
Chief Financial Officer Geir Karlsen, who has raised cash,
postponed debt payments, sold off assets and cut unprofitable
routes to keep the company aloft.
Karlsen will continue as CFO as well as deputy CEO.
Amid a flurry of deals to save Norwegian, Karlsen in October
announced plans for a Chinese leasing firm to take stakes in its
fleet, and partnered with U.S. carrier JetBlue to feed
passengers into each others' network.
The company has a similar deal in Europe with Britain's
easyJet.
Former CEO Kjos, who is Norwegian's largest shareholder and
retains the title of president, on Tuesday told a conference in
Berlin that the carrier aims to build further alliances.
Shares in Norwegian Air were trading down 0.6% at 1146 GMT.
(Reporting by Terje Solsvik and Gwladys Fouche; Editing by
Kirsten Donovan)
