Ryanair’s Chief Operations Officer resigns from the airline

He has spent nearly 30 years at Ryanair.

Ryanair's Chief Operations Officer, Michael Hickey, has announced his resignation from the airline. The airline confirmed today that Hickey had decided to resign and he will step down at the end of October. According to Reuters, Hickey was responsible for rosters when the disruptions began but that function was taken over by Ryanair’s Chief People Officer, Edward Wilson, on 27 September when the Irish airline announced its second wave of cancellations. Hickey joined Ryanair in 1988 as an engineer before becoming the director of Engineering in 2000 and he took up his current role in 2014. In a statement released today, Mr O'Leary paid tribute to Mr Hickey's 30-year career with the airline. "Over the past 30 years Mick Hickey has made an enormous contribution to Ryanair, especially the quality and safety of our engineering and operations functions. "He will be a hard act to replace, which is why we are grateful he has agreed to continue in an advisory role to smooth the transition to a successor and to complete a number of large projects he is currently working on including a multiyear engine maintenance contract and new hangar projects in Seville and Madrid. "All of us in Ryanair wish to sincerely thank Mick for all his advice and guidance over the past 30 years and we wish him every possible success in the future." Ryanair is currently beginning the process of identifying and recruiting a new successor for Hickey's role.