Wizz Air Reduces Gender Gap by Appointing Two High-Ranking Women

Wizz Air

Wizz Air added two women to its boardroom within the space of a week. Photograph: Valentina Petrova/AFP/Getty

Rob Davies, The Guardian, March 02, 2016

No-frills airline Wizz Air is no longer the FTSE firm with the fewest women in senior roles after recruiting two in the space of a week.

The Hungarian carrier unveiled Sonia Jerez Burdeus, finance director at Spanish airline Vueling, as its new chief financial officer, starting on 1 June.

The appointment comes a week after Wizz Air appointed Susan Hooper, former managing director of British Gas Services, as a non-executive director.

Wizz Air came out worst in a list of UK-based companies produced by the former trade minister Lord Davies, who led a government-backed review of the gender balance at the top of British firms.

It was one of 15 companies in the FTSE 250 with no women on its board, including Egypt-focused miner Centamin, bulls’ semen specialist Genus and Abu Dhabi-based healthcare group Al Noor Hospitals.

Although WizzAir’s finance director does not sit on the company’s board, its new non-executive director will. That will move the firm off the bottom of Davies league table, leaving Nostrum Oil & Gas in last place with no women among nine directors.

Wizz Air attracted criticism last November when a previous boardroom reshuffle failed to result in any women being recruited.

The company hinted at the time that it was casting its eye over female candidates who would be suitable for a directorship.

“We need the best person for the non-executive role and the search is being conducted with diversity very much in mind,” it said.

This article originally appeared on guardian.co.uk

 

This article was written by Rob Davies from The Guardian and was legally licensed through the NewsCred publisher network.