Jörgen Lindegaard, president and ceo of SAS, announced his surprise intention to leave the group in the autumn.
He has run the Scandinavian airline through five tough years of cuts in staff and routes, financial losses and radical re-structuring to bring it back into profit.
The 57-year-old Dane took over SAS in May 2001. During his tenure, the carrier has shed 5,000 jobs and made losses in four successive years before returning to profit – as was scheduled – last year.
Under its Turnaround 2005 plan, the airline aimed to save 1.5bn over five years.
It announced in February that it had achieved this with a net income of 27.32m for 2005, its first surplus for five years.
Commenting on his decision, Mr Lindegaard said: "These have been five years dominated by major changes.
"The September 11 disaster occurred shortly after I joined SAS and it had a strong impact on travel.
"During these years, low-price competition has also had its real breakthrough. The first steps of the necessary savings and transformation work have now been completed.
"I want to thank all SAS employees for these years. I feel that the time is right for a new ceo to take over. For my part, I would like to take on a further challenge."
Egil Myklebust, chairman of SAS Group, regretted Mr Lindegaard's decision saying he had made an “outstanding contribution” to the company.
No successor has yet been appointed.
IHG enjoys 40% rise in operating profits
InterContinental Hotel Group (IHG) reported a 40% rise to £42m in its continuing operating profit for the first quarter of 2006, compared with £30m for the same period last year.
The group said its continuing revenue for the period rose by 22% from £153m to £186m while total gross revenue from its hotels went up by 9% to $3.4bn.
Andrew Cosslett, IHG's ceo, said: "Results for the quarter were strong, helped by buoyant market conditions around the world and the impact of actions taken during the second half of 2005.
"These changes included strengthened and refocused development teams, new operating structures and revisions to our marketing approach in key locations.
"The disposal programme is on track, we remain focused on enhancing the quality of our estate and our pipeline of new hotel signings, the largest in the industry, continues to grow.
"The outlook for the rest of the year remains positive."
Mr Cosslett said that in the EMEA region, revPAR had increased by 8.7% and but the group had been hit by the closure of the InterContinental in London for re-furbishment. The hotel is due to re-open by the end of the year.
The North America and Asia Pacific regions had both put in strong performances, Mr Cosslett said.