SAS CEO resigns and takes over SKF

Rickard Gustafson has been CEO of SAS for ten years. Like many competitors, the company has been hit hard by the pandemic. But the crisis in the crown is not the only difficulty Gustafson has faced.

When he took office in 2010, he cited competition from low-cost companies as a challenge, and since then SAS has had to stop pilot strikes, aviation embarrassments, and more recently the pandemic. In March, a serious Rickard Gustafson announced that the lawsuit had largely disappeared and that up to 10,000 employees could be laid off. So far, more than 5,000 employees have had to leave their jobs since the pandemic broke out.

Over the past year, SAS went public and lost two-thirds of its value. At the same time, SKF’s share has increased by 22 percent.

TT has applied for Rickard Gustafson, but has been informed that he is not available for an interview.

Looking for a new boss

SAS has already started looking for a replacement. “I am both disappointed and saddened that Rickard decides to leave his important role at SAS. The company is still in a critical but stable position, and the board, of course, has immediately started the process of appointing a new president and CEO, “says Carsten Dilling, chairman of the airline’s board, in a Press release.

Joakim Bornold, a savings economist at Söderberg & Partners, says Gustafson has done a good job during his years at SAS.

– It has been very stable in a company and an industry that has been very unstable. With the conditions it has had, you have to give it a good grade. It has been ten very hard years. Not just for SAS, but for the entire aviation industry.

That Rickard Gustafson is the new SKF president and CEO is not surprising, according to Bornold.

– It has long been a name that has featured in all the major Swedish CEO appointments.

Critical time

Exit is certainly not what SAS needs in a pressure situation, writes Jacob Pedersen, head of research at Danish Sydbank, who follows SAS, in an analysis: “The next few months, when the restart of traffic starts slowly, will require many important decisions. CEO Rickard Gustafson risks saying goodbye to leaving SAS in the dark at a crucial moment, “writes Pedersen.

He agrees with the tribute chorus to the resigning top manager: “Through efficiency and a business focus, Rickard Gustafson was able to generate profits at SAS five years in a row.”

But the situation for the company now is difficult. “SAS has replenished the coffers through recapitalization, but the flights stay on the ground and the money comes out of the coffers,” Pedersen writes.

SAS in the most serious crisis in its history

Bornold is supported by Hans Jørgen Elnæs, an aviation analyst at the consultancy Winair. “He has been a clear and powerful CEO who has navigated SAS through a lot of turmoil, both internal and external,” he writes in an email to TT.

At the same time, Elnæs points out that it is not positive that the CEO is leaving now that the company is in perhaps the most serious crisis in history. On the other hand, a new CEO can add new energy to both the company and the employees.

“I don’t think SAS will be affected by the resignation of Rickard Gustafson, except that some colleagues at SAS are probably a bit disappointed,” writes Hans Jørgen Elnæs.

SKF announced in mid-November that CEO Alrik Danielson will resign in 2021. It is unclear when exactly Gustafson will take over the leadership role. SAS writes that Gustafson will leave the company no later than July 1, while SKF claims that he will take up the position during the first half of this year.

“After a thorough and robust search process, we are very pleased to welcome Rickard Gustafson to SKF. Rickard Gustafson’s strong and modern leadership, extensive international experience and energy make him the right person to lead the continued implementation of SKF’s strategy, ”says Hans Stråberg, chairman of the company’s board of directors, in a statement. press.