Alitalia Appoints New Chief Executive

December 17, 2015

Alitalia has appointed aviation industry turnaround expert Cramer Ball as its new chief executive.

Ball, who joins from India's Jet Airway, is expected to take up his new role in early March, succeeding Silvano Cassano who resigned in September after less than a year in the job.

Cassano was picked when Etihad Airways agreed to buy a 49 percent stake in Alitalia as part of a EUR€1.76 billion (USD$1.91 billion) rescue plan.

Ball has spent more than 20 years in the industry and is expected to pilot Alitalia's return to profitability by 2017, a target the airline confirmed on Thursday.

As chief executive of Jet Airways, which he joined in 2014, and before that as CEO of Air Seychelles, he helped bring both airlines back to profitability, Alitalia said.

Both Jet Airways and Air Seychelles are equity partners of Etihad, and prior to joining Air Seychelles Ball was a regional general manager for the Abu Dhabi-based carrier.

(Reuters)