Easyjet’s CEO Carolyn McCall is to leave the airline later this year to take over at broadcaster ITV.
McCall, who became boss at Easyjet in 2010, is expected to leave the low-cost carrier “around the end of the year” to join ITV as its new CEO in early 2018.
Easyjet said that the search for a new CEO had already started and it “expects to select from a strong range of candidates”.
McCall said: “This was a really difficult decision for me to make. I have had an amazing seven years at Easyjet, I am so proud of what the airline and its people have achieved in that period.
“After seven years, the opportunity from ITV felt like the right one to take. It is a fantastic company in a dynamic and stimulating sector.
“Easyjet is a structural winner in a brilliant position, and I look forward to being a loyal customer in the years to come.”
The airline is set to unveil a trading update for the third quarter of its current financial year on Thursday (July 20).
Easyjet’s chairman John Barton added: “Carolyn built and led the management team that has transformed Easyjet's performance in every respect since 2010.
“She put Easyjet's passengers and people at the heart of the business. Having first built a solid operational performance, she redefined the customer experience not just at Easyjet but across short-haul Europe and has seen both the number and loyalty of Easyjet's passengers grow as a result.”