Ryanair hopes to improve its reputation with the appointment of a new marketing guru from Moneysupermarket.
Kenny Jacobs, 40, who joins from the price-comparison site to become Ryanair’s new chief marketing officer, is originally from Cork and married with two children.
He was also previously marketing director for Tesco Ireland and brand director for Tesco UK and worked for German-based retailer Metro Group in several marketing roles across Europe and Asia.
The airline’s search for a new marketing chief began last autumn after O’Leary had been criticised by shareholders for the airline coming across as too "macho".
Ryanair also admitted it needed to work more closely with online and corporate travel agents.
Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary said Jacobs will "bring a new and fresh impetus to Ryanair’s marketing activities over the coming months as we roll out significant customer service improvements, a brilliant new website from April and a fantastic, easy to use mobile app from the end of June".
Ryanair has already implemented a series of changes, including reducing charges, simplifying the online booking process and embracing social media.
Earlier this week, it announced plans for more flexible fares aimed at the corporate market.
The marketing appointment is part of senior management reshuffle, which comes into play on February 1.
Under the restructure:
– Lesley Kane, who was previously head of sales and marketing, has been promoted to head of groups and corporate sales
– Michael Hickey, previously director of engineering, has been promoted to group director of operations
– David O’Brien, previously director of operations, will become chief commercial officer
– Deputy director of flight operations Peter Bellew has been promoted to become head of sales and marketing
– Deputy head of web development Dara Brady will become head of web development.
O’Leary added: "These new promotions and positions concludes the first significant senior management reorganisation since Ryanair joined the Stock Market in 1997.
"The Board and I have every confidence that this new senior management team will deliver Ryanair’s exciting plans to grow from 80m to over 110m passengers a year over the next five years."
