(Adds detail, background)
LONDON, Oct 12 (Reuters) - Airlines group IAG named
Aer Lingus boss Sean Doyle as the new chief executive of British
Airways, replacing Alex Cruz in the top job, one of a number of
management changes announced by IAG's new chief executive after
a month in the job.
Luis Gallego, who took over as IAG CEO in September as the
company tries to survive the COVID-19 slump in travel, stamped
his mark on IAG on Monday, by promoting former BA employee Doyle
to head up the company's biggest airline BA on Monday.
Cruz had been BA boss since 2016 and will stay on as its
non-executive chairman for a transition period, IAG said in its
statement. Cruz and Gallego had previously worked together at
Spanish airline Vueling, now also owned by IAG.
The last few months of Cruz's tenure have been tough, as he
was tasked with driving through 12,000 job cuts at BA, making
him a frequent target of trade union hostility.
IAG said that the CEO of another of its airlines, LEVEL,
would take on the new role of group chief transformation
officer, while it named Aer Lingus insider Donal Moriarty as
interim CEO.
(Reporting by Sarah Young, editing by James Davey and Michael
Holden)