British Airways has lost its Chief People Officer after just nine months on the job, the airline’s chief executive Sean Doyle announced on Monday.
Michelle Lydon suddenly quit in order to pursue “opportunities” elsewhere after only joining the Heathrow-based airline in February 2022. Lydon is believed to have already left her role before a replacement could be found.
Lydon was poached from the defence, aerospace and security company QinetiQ where she was the Group HR Director for six years. Her LinkedIn profile says she is “passionate about creating a high-performance and inclusive culture”.
“Creating an environment where we can all thrive is important to me and I lead by example as a coach, mental health champion, and the sponsor for our disability and carers network,” Lydon says.
Her time at British Airways has been spent overseeing one of the biggest recruitment campaigns ever undertaken by the airline as the carrier ramps up capacity to meet a surge in travel demand.
Lydon was also charged with improving the airline’s workplace culture. British Airways faced the threat of strike action by cabin crew before a deal was struck several months ago, while the airline has only just resolved a dispute over pay and conditions with its pilots/
British Airways lost a slew of senior executives in the last year, with its chief technical officer, Jason Mahoney set to leave the airline by the end of 2022.
Other executives who have recently ‘voluntarily’ left the airline include its Chief Customer Officer. British Airways has, however, recently poached René de Groot as its new Chief Operating Officer from European rival KLM where he had worked for 32 years.
She wanted a “high performance culture” and went to British Airways.
Poor woman.
No one from the outside lasts long at BA. Rene de Groot (30+ years at KLM)
has just joined BA. Let’s see how long it takes for him to see the light
De Groot is appearing out of his depth already. Watch the summer of BA cancellations that have already started