Outgoing exec Peter Bellew walked out of a three-year contract to rejoin former employer Ryanair.
Malaysia Airlines’ outgoing CEO has denied reports that he resigned without any notice, insisting he gave the carrier fair warning.
Former CEO Peter Bellew came under criticism after Ryanair announced in a stock exchange filing that he would be returning to the budget airline as chief operations officer.
In response, Malaysia Airlines simply said it had taken note of Ryanair's "unexpected announcement," leaving many to speculate on internal politics.
However, Irish-born Bellew insists he resigned from Malaysia Airlines on Oct. 8 – more than a week before Ryanair’s surprise statement.
"Khazanah and our chairman did everything possible to get me to stay," Bellew said in a follow-up statement. “They could not understand why I would leave," he added.
Former Prime Minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad also suggested that Bellew had stepped down due to political interference – a claim Bellow has vehemently denied.
“He is 100% wrong,” Bellew said at a press conference. “I have had no interference from anyone on anything to do with running the business over the last two years.”
Bellew – who has been on administrative leave since Oct. 8 – said the decision was down to a need to be with his family. He is set to return to Ryanair on December 1.
“There is no mystery, no intrigue, no controversy about that as far as I am concerned,” he said. “It is very simple, I just want to ‘balik kampung’. Back to Ireland, that simple.”
While Bellow apologised for walking out of his three-year contract – due to end in June 2019 – he chose not to discuss how this would impact his compensation.
On Friday, Malaysia Airlines appointed former pilot Izham Ismail to replace Bellew.
“He is a great man, wonderful operator, extremely knowledgeable, very personable,” said Bellew. “He is the right man for the job, I think the staff will rally around him.”
