IAG Announces Major Leadership Changes For Its Spanish Airlines

International Airways Group (IAG) announced a change in leadership for Iberia, LEVEL, and Vueling Airlines on February 29th. Per a statement, Carolina Martinoli has been promoted to Chief Executive Officer and Chair of Vueling, replacing Marco Sansavini, who has been named Chairman and CEO of Iberia.

IAG added that Fernando Candela, who has served as interim CEO of Iberia since May 2023, will continue serving the airline consortium as CEO of LEVEL Airlines. Candela had previously served as CEO of LEVEL before being temporarily placed with Iberia following the departure of Javier Sanchez-Prieto.

Marco Sansavini

The three individuals combined have 69 years of experience in the airline industry. Before being named CEO of Iberia, Sansavini had served as Chairman and CEO of Vueling since September 2020. He was previously Chief Commerical Officer for Iberia since 2012, serving both Alitalia as Chief Strategy Officer and Air France as Vice President prior to that.

Iberia currently operates the second-largest fleet of the IAG airlines with 95 aircraft, including the A320 family, A330, and A350. Iberia itself has been expanding and is expected to take delivery of at least one more A350 in 2024.

Carolina Martinoli

Prior to being called on to replace Marco Sansavini as the new head of Vueling, Martinoli served as IAG’s Chief People, Corporate Affairs, and Sustainability Officer. She also has nearly eight years of experience at Iberia and British Airways in various roles focusing on customer experience.

The airline Martinoli now leads, Vueling, operates a low-cost network with bases across Spain, Italy, and France. The airline operates a total of 125 A320 family aircraft, split between the A319, A320, and A321. Vueling additionally expects to take delivery of at least six more A320neo aircraft, which are currently on order.

Fernando Candela

Returning to LEVEL Airlines, where he came from, Candela has worked for the airline for nearly 28 years. Prior to becoming CEO of Iberia and before becoming CEO of LEVEL Airlines, Candela served IAG as Chief Transformation Officer.

LEVEL’s fleet is far more humble than the Iberia fleet Candela had managed. The low-cost, long-haul carrier’s fleet comprises six A330-200s: four ex-Iberia aircraft averaging five years in age, and another two aircraft that have been in service for 12 and 17 years, respectively.

IAG’s profitable 2023

The change in leadership came on the same day that IAG released its 2023 year-end results, in which the group reported growth in both profit and revenue.

“In 2023, IAG more than doubled its operating margin and profits compared to 2022, generated excellent free cash flow and strengthened its balance sheet position, recovering capacity to close to pre-COVID-19 levels in most of its core markets,” IAG’s Chief Executive Officer Luis Gallego said.

The airline group’s profit in the last quarter of 2023 turned out to be a full €25 million ($27 million) more than the previous year, following a record Q3 profit. The growth included a capacity growth of nearly 23%, with the airlines focusing on its core North Atlantic and South Atlantic markets. For Candela, Martinoli, and Sansavini, IAG’s CEO included goals for 2024 in the year-end financial report.

“In 2024, we will execute on our strategy, building long-term value into the business,” Gallego said. “We will focus on strengthening our core airline businesses and on developing IAG Loyalty and our other asset-light growth opportunities.”

IAG, for its part, is one of the world’s largest airline groups, with 582 aircraft in total. It owns British Airways, Iberia, Aer Lingus, Vueling, LEVEL, and Avios Group. The airline group is also trying to acquire Air Europa.