Etihad hires former Aer Lingus executive as new CFO

[June 17, 2019]  By Alexander Cornwell

DUBAI (Reuters) - Etihad Airways has appointed former Aer Lingus chief financial officer Andrew MacFarlane as its new group CFO, a spokesman for the Abu Dhabi airline said on Monday.

MacFarlane, who served as Aer Lingus CFO from 2009 to 2014, replaces Mark Powers who left Etihad earlier this year for personal reasons.

MacFarlane joins Etihad from state fund Abu Dhabi Investment Authority (ADIA) where he has held a non-aviation role since 2014, according to his LinkedIn page.

He is the airline's second CFO since it announced it was overhauling its management in 2017.

Etihad has begun a five-year turnaround strategy led by Group Chief Executive Tony Douglas, who joined the Abu Dhabi carrier in 2018.

The loss-making airline has scaled back its ambitions and started reorganizing as a mid-sized carrier focused on point-to-point traffic in 2018.

It has canceled dozens of Airbus and Boeing aircraft orders worth tens of billions of dollars.

(Reporting by Alexander Cornwell, additional reporting by Hadeel Al Sayegh. Editing by Jane Merriman)

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