Jet2 PLC on Tuesday said it has promoted Senior Independent Director Robin Terrell to non-executive chair effective immediately, replacing the company’s leader for the past 40 years.
The Leeds, England-based leisure travel operator in early July had announced that Philip Meeson, who founded the current company in 1983, would step down as executive chair upon the appointment of a successor.
Analysts at the time attributed a subsequent steep drop in Jet2’s share price to the news of Meeson’s departure.
Jet2 shares were down 0.6% at 1,050.00 pence in London on Tuesday morning. The stock is down 22% over the past 6 months, but up 22% over the past 12 months.
Jet2 said the board ‘unanimously agreed’ to appoint Terrell as its new chair. Terrell was appointed as an independent non-executive director in April 2020 ‘just as the Covid-19 pandemic was taking hold’, and subsequently ‘helped the company navigate the most tumultuous period in its history’.
Terrell has served in multiple leadership roles at a wide variety of firms. These included chief customer officer of Tesco PLC from 2015 to 2016, managing director at John Lewis & Partners from 2008 to 2010, and managing director of Amazon.com Inc in the UK.
Jet2 said Meeson has now stood down from the board and moved to a founder & adviser role. His remaining executive responsibilities have been fully handed over.
Meeson is a pilot who bought what was then Express Air Services in 1983 and renamed it Channel Express. The company created the ’Super’ Dart Herald aircraft and listed in London, first as Channel Express Group Ltd and then as Dart Group PLC. Dart launched low-cost leisure airline Jet2.com in 2002 and changed its name to Jet2 PLC in 2020.
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