Stephen Hester, the former boss of Royal Bank of Scotland, will become the chairman of easyJet at the end of the year.
Hester, who most recently served as chief executive of the insurer RSA from 2014 until May, will join the easyJet board as a non-executive director next month.
He will take over as chair of the airline on 1 December, succeeding John Barton, who will step down after almost nine years in the role.
Hester has more than 35 years of experience across a range of business sectors, including at the property firm British Land and the Swiss bank Credit Suisse.
However, he is best known for leading the bailed-out bank RBS – now rebranded as NatWest – after being parachuted in to the job during the 2008 banking crisis, when the lender teetered on the edge of bankruptcy.
Hester ran the part-nationalised bank for about five years, a role he described as “bruising and difficult”, until he was forced out with a payoff of at least £1.6m in 2013.
For seven years, Hester ran RSA, which owns the More Than brand, until the completion in May of a £7.2bn takeover from two overseas insurers.
Barton said Hester’s “significant and varied experience leading major international businesses in regulated industries, coupled with his outstanding strategic thinking, will serve the airline well as it leads the recovery in the post-pandemic era, complementing and adding to the skills of the existing board and leadership team”.
Barton added that he was proud of how easyJet had “navigated through the pandemic” and said the carrier was well positioned for the future.
Hester described himself as a “longstanding admirer of easyJet” and a customer of the airline.
“I see so many opportunities for this iconic brand in the coming years, all underpinned by its proven business model, unrivalled network and loyal customer base. I am convinced we can be winners in the European airline industry of the future, serving customers well and driving attractive shareholder value,” he said.
The easyJet chief executive, Johan Lundgren, thanked Barton for his “wise leadership” and said he was looking forward to working with Hester “at this important time in our history”.
EasyJet has reported a surge in ticket sales this summer, after the loosening of Covid restrictions on travel from the UK to several European countries, including France, Germany, Austria and Norway.
The airline intends to fly 60% of its capacity between July and September, but does not expect travel to recover to 2019 levels until 2023.