The Diplomat
IAG has appointed Fernando Candela as chairman and CEO of Iberia to replace Javier Sánchez-Prieto, who has decided to take on “new personal projects outside the aeronautical industry”.
This was explained yesterday by the holding company in a statement in which it adds that Candela will lead Iberia from July until the end of 2023 to end his professional career in the Iberia group.
Candela has been CEO of Level since 2019 and head of Transformation at IAG since 2020. He was CEO of Iberia Express for six years and, previously, among other positions, he was Director of Planning and Management Control at Air Nostrum.
With almost thirty years of experience in the airline industry, Candela is an industrial engineer from the Polytechnic University of Valencia and has completed various executive training programmes at centres such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Instituto de Empresa (IE) and the IESE. Throughout his professional life he has also worked in companies such as Uralita or Andersen Consulting.
“There is, of course, no better end to my professional career than leading Iberia, Spain’s leading airline and one of the country’s most prominent companies, an example of efficiency in the international arena,” said Candela.
Among his first tasks at the company will be to tackle the repayment of Iberia’s debt and to continue negotiations to complete the purchase of Air Europa by IAG, an operation in which Candela has been involved in recent months under the leadership of IAG’s CEO, Luis Gallego.
“Fernando Candela is an extraordinary professional and has been a key player in IAG and the Iberia Group,” said Gallego, who said he is “the best person to lead Iberia in the coming months.
For his part, Javier Sánchez-Prieto announced that he will take on new professional projects outside the industry after a twelve-year career in the group, where he has led Iberia and Vueling and has been part of the management and founding team of Iberia Express.
“It has been an honour for me to be at the helm of Iberia for these years. I am very proud to have been part of the team that has succeeded in continuing the transformation of Iberia into one of the best airlines in the world,” said Sánchez-Prieto.
