Stelios issues EasyJet rebellion threat

Published on Tuesday 12 July 2011 21:03

Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou yesterday reignited his long-running feud with the board of EasyJet by threatening to organise a shareholder rebellion unless the budget airline abandons plans to buy more planes.

The carrier's founder, who with his family owns 38 per cent of its shares, said plans to buy 35 aircraft will erode profits that he wants to see returned to shareholders.

In an 11-page letter, Stelios, right, demanded that the airline gives an updated figure for how much buying the planes will cost and allows shareholders to vote on the plans.

He gave the airline until Monday to respond and threatened to call a shareholder meeting to call for a non-executive director to be removed at random.

Stelios founded the company in 1995, but stepped down from the board last year. In recent years, his relationship with the management has become increasingly fractious after they clashed over expansion plans. Chief executive Andy Harrison and chief financial officer Jeff Carr stepped down in recent years amid vocal criticism from Stelios.

EasyJet last obtained shareholder consent to buy planes from Airbus in 2006, but Stelios claims a new vote is needed because the economic climate has changed and the company's profits have almost halved.

Stelios said it was "outrageous" that EasyJet earlier this year upgraded part of its order to bigger planes, which will cost more money. The carrier issued a profits warning just days later.