Michael O'Leary, 57, has signed another five-year contract but four new chief executives will be appointed to run the group on a day-to-day basis TOLGA AKMEN/AFP/Getty ImagesRyanair revealed that it dived into the red in the Christmas trading quarter and announced what appeared to be the first steps in a succession plan to replace Michael O’Leary as chief executive. With competition between carriers as cut-throat as ever, Europe’s busiest short-haul airline reported losses just short of €20 million in the three months to the end of December as it was forced to slash fares. In the same quarter last year it made profits of €105 million. The budget airline, which is based in Ireland, also reported that although Mr O’Leary has tied himself to completing his third decade leading Ryanair, plans are being hatched to appoint four executives to run the group on a day-to-day basis. Ryanair flies 142 million passengers…

Source: The Times February 04, 2019 09:00 UTC