Harald Eisenacher is a former Lufthansa and Sabre senior executive who most recently served as chief commercial officer for Danish air travel data firm Infare. He has previously also held senior roles with Deutsche Telekom and eBay, and is a member of German cleantech start-up Solytic’s advisory board.
Ryanne van der Eijk, meanwhile, had a 20-year career with KLM, latterly as the Dutch carrier’s chief experience officer. She has also served as Dubai Airports’ chief operating officer and was chief experience officer for the Ras al Khaimah Economic Zone in the UAE.
The third addition is Dr Detlef Trefzger, who recently stepped down as chief executive of Swiss transport and logistics firm Kuehne + Nagel. Prior to this post, he held senior positions with DB Schenker and Roland Berger.
Eisenacher will join easyJet’s remuneration and finance committees, while Trefzger will join the airline’s audit and safety committees. Van der Eijk has also been appointed to the safety committee, and will also become one of the board’s employee representative directors.
Existing board member Moni Mannings will join easyJet’s nominations committee.
The arrivals of Eisenacher, Trefzger and van der Eijk have been necessitated by three departures from the easyJet board. After four years on the board and his relocation to Singapore, Nick Leeder will stand down as a non-executive director from 30 September.
Fellow non-executive director Andreas Bierwirth, who has been on the easyJet board for nearly nine years, will not seek re-election at the airline’s AGM next year, while senior independent director Julie Southern has also signalled she won’t seek re-election after five years on the board.
The appointment of a new senior independent director and further changes to the committees when Southern and Bierwirth stand down next year will be announced "in due course", said easyJet.
EasyJet chair Stephen Hester said the trio – Eisenacher, van der Eijk and Trefzger – would bring "extensive airline and travel industry experience" to their boardroom roles, with an "extra focus on operations and logistics, customer experience, digital and data. "This, combined with their European outlook, will further strengthen the board," said Hester. "We very much look forward to them joining us."
Hester also paid tribute to the three outgoing members of the board. "On behalf of the board, I would like to take the opportunity thank Nick for his contribution during his tenure and wish him well for the future. I am also pleased that we will continue to benefit from Julie and Andreas’ experience through to February next year."
