Internal candidates are reported to be vying for the soon-to-be-vacant chief executive’s seat at easyJet.
Ahead of the departure of Carolyn McCall, who is leaving to head ITV, some jostling for position is taking place, The Times reported industry sources as saying.
The budget airline’s chief operating officer Chris Browne, previously at Tui Travel, is thought to be a frontrunner, as is chief commercial officer Peter Duffy.
City sources speculated that a dark-horse contender could emerge from the boardroom in the form of Andy Martin, a former chief operating officer of Compass, is one of easyJet’s non-executive directors.
McCall, who has been at the helm of the airline for seven years, announced last month that she was leaving to replace Adam Crozier as chief executive of ITV. She is due to start her new role at the broadcaster in January.
EasyJet chairman John Barton is in the early stages of searching for her replacement and is expected to consider external candidates as well as the contenders on the internal succession plan.
Browne, 57, joined the board as a non-executive director early last year and became chief operating officer in October. She was formerly managing director of Thomson Airways and chief operating officer of aviation at Tui.
Duffy, who joined easyJet in 2011 as marketing director, was previously UK marketing director for Audi.
If Martin, 57, is chosen to fill the top post, it will be his first executive role since leaving the catering giant Compass in 2015.
Other insider candidates could include Moya Greene, who joined the board last month. The 63-year-old is chief executive of Royal Mail.
The Luton-based airline, which employs 6,000 people in the UK, has announced it will set up an Austrian headquarters to operate flights within the EU following the Brexit vote.
It is planning to launch a separate airline, called easyJet Europe, to operate the Vienna-based network.