EasyJet’s Female CEO Had a Media Career

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Nicola Clark, Guiding easyJet out of Turbulence into Profit; A turnaround partly built on appealing to business travelers. New York Times, June 16, 2015
www.nytimes.com/2015/06/16/busin ... h-a-turnaround.html
(Carolyn McCall, a 53-year-old mother of three)

Quote:

"Net income for the 2014 financial year came to 450 million pounds, or about $690 million, on revenue of more than £4.5 billion. Ryanair also generates healthy profits

"a rare woman among airline chief executives * * * Ms McCall * * * had built a long career in publishing and was previously chief of the Guardian Media Group, owner of properties that include The Guardian newspaper. * * * When Ms. McCall joined easyJet in July 2010, the airline was in turmoil. Having expanded at a breakneck pace for several years, easyJet was struggling to mend a reputation for frequent delays — more than a third of its flights were late — and poor customer service.  Since her first days at the airline, Ms McCall has made a habit of speaking with the pilots and assisting the cabin crew whenever she flies, which is generally several times a week. It is not uncommon for passengers to see the chief making her way through the center aisle with a plastic bag to gather the trash.  ‘Because they are so busy on the flight, it’s the easiest way to talk with the crew,’ Ms McCall said.

“In a remark that appeared to take aim at both her gender and her résumé, Michael O’Leary, the chief executive of Ryanair, dismissed her as ‘some old media luvvie.’ Ms McCall said she had found the O’Leary gibe ‘quite interesting, because I had honestly never really thought about’ her professional background as a liability. ‘I feel that operationally, I was able to bring a fresh perspective.’  (Asked recently if he had revised his opinion of Ms McCall’s management skills, Mr O’Leary declined to comment.)

My comment:
(a) There is no need to read the rest.
(b) easyJet
en.wikipedia.org/?title=EasyJet
(based at London Luton Airport; It is the largest airline of the United Kingdom, by number of passengers carried; listed on the London Stock Exchange; launched [in 1995] by Greek Cypriot businessman Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou)
(c) "EasyJet, based near London, is second to the Irish airline Ryanair among Europe’s budget airlines in number of passengers carried."

Ryanair was set up by the Ryan family (co-founders: Tony Ryan, Christy Ryan and Liam Lonergan), in 1985. Ryanair "originally followed a traditional business model, but quickly began to lose money." Wikipedia. (Ryanair switched to the low-cost model originated by Southwest Airlines.) Separately Michael O'Leary advised Tony on personal income tax, and Tony recruited O'Leary to Ryanair (its CEO 1994- ).
(d) luvvie (n; earlier than 1998): "n British use, luvvie is a humorously depreciative term for an actor, especially one regarded as effusive or affected. The reference is to a stereotype of  thespians habitually addressing people as ‘lovey.’ When the OED revised its entry for lovey in 2008, this sense, which had by then become established in the variant spelling luvvie, was made a separate entry. The earliest quotation found at the time was from Stephen Fry, writing in the Guardian in 1988 * * * Please note that this word is attested in a variety of spellings; besides luvvie, the OED [Oxford English Dictionary] also records lovie, lovey, and luvvy.“
OED appeals (Help record the history of our language), undated
public.oed.com/appeals/luvvie/