Former Austrian Airlines CEO to Take the Helm at WestJet

By Paul Riegler on 17 December 2021
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The WestJet Group announced the appointment of Alexis Graf von und zu Hoensbroech to the position of chief executive officer.

Herr Doktor von Hoensbroech is currently the CEO of Austrian Airlines, a position he has been in since 2018. Prior to that he held various positions at Lufthansa, including chief commercial officer at Lufthansa Cargo, a carrier he joined in 2005.

“While at Austrian Airlines, Alexis refocused the airline on its core business, lowering its cost base to address rising competition from ultra-low-cost carriers,” said Chris Burley, the chairman of the airline’s board of directors, in a prepared statement.  “Alexis’ direct aviation operating experience builds on a career of airline consulting and research work,” he added.

The current interim CEO, Harry Taylor, will remain in that role until Herr Doktor von Hoensbroech assumes the position, the timing of which is predicated upon what WestJet termed “a successful immigration process.”  Mr. Taylor will resume his position as executive vice president and CFO at that point.  He joined the airline in 2015.

WestJet said it had conducted a global search starting in June of this year when the then current CEO, Ed Sims, announced plans for retirement.

The incoming CEO studied astrophysics at the Max-Planck-Institut für Radioastronomie in conjunction with the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms Universität, Bonn.

(Photo: Accura Media Group)

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