Ryanair laden with long-haul directors

Ryanair's announcement yesterday that finance chief Howard Millar is leaving later this year means two familiar faces will have gone from the airline's senior management team this year.

Both he and the now departed deputy chief executive Michael Cawley have worked for Ryanair for more than two decades and played big roles in developing the successful business that is there today.

The move is likely to spark some speculation about chief executive Michael O’Leary’s intentions. It’s a subject which comes up from time to time, which is not surprising given that he and the airline are so closely identified with one another.

Nothing he said yesterday indicated he is going anywhere but, as time rolls on, investors and the general public are going to become more interested in talking about a post-O’Leary Ryanair.

Miller, of course, is not ending his association with Ryanair. He will join the board as a non-executive, something Cawley has already done. There are a few familiar faces on the board who have been around for a long time or have close associations with the group.

Chairman David Bonderman has served as a director since August 1996 and took over the chair in December of that year. While corporate governance guidelines set no limit on the period for which someone can chair a big quoted company such as Ryanair, and he is regularly put up for re-election, 18 years is still a long time.

The company may well argue that Bonderman has presided over a period of unbroken growth, but not everybody is likely to be convinced by that and some shareholders at least could start asking questions.

The board features other very long-serving non-execs. James Osborne has also been a director since August 1996, while Kyran McLaughlin, who advised Ryanair on its 1997 flotation, was appointed in January 2001.

The airline can say it brings new blood on to its board, pointing at examples such as former Lamont chief Dick Milliken and one-time Department of Transport secretary general Julie O'Neill, but, like the chairmanship, it could well face questions about long-serving board members.