Gerry Laderman is back as United’s acting chief financial officer (CFO) once again following Andrew Levy resignation this week. The carrier will "immediately" begin a search for a permanent replacement, the airline said yesterday.
Levy had been CFO for less than two years, and Laderman had served as interim CFO before Levy, a former executive at discount carrier Allegiant Air, joined United in August 2016. United also hired Scott Kirby that month from rival American Airlines to be United's new president.
Levy wrote on his LinkedIn page that he is "considering several exciting opportunities and will choose one in the coming weeks." "He leaves the company in a stronger financial position and with a clear strategy and framework in place," CEO Oscar Munoz said in a statement.
United shares were largely unaffected by the news.
Meanwhile, the Russian government continues to tighten its grip on the aviation market while carrying through the promise to take back the skies for Aeroflot, this time JSC Saratov Airlines is the victim. The Federal Air Transport Agency (Rosaviatsia) ordered Saratov to suspend all ticket sales for flights post May 31, 2018. Saratov Airlines said in a statement today that it regards this latest move by Rosaviatsia as a precursor to the revocation of its Air Operator's Certificate (AOC) and as such the management has decided to shut down the airline with effect from May 31, 2018 with all 1,200 employees being laid off with one month notice from today. All this comes following the AN148-100 crash in February 2018 which killed 71, the subsequent safety inspection by Rosaviatsia found “shortcomings in safety procedures”. The airline was then given a month to sort the problems out, but in the end, it is true to say that the airline was not given much of a chance to come back from the crash. The impact of this airline closure will be felt in the Embraer 195 market as, one assumes four 195s will now come onto the open market for rapid sale, two having only been delivered in the past few weeks.