Ryanair has lost its court case against outgoing COO Peter Bellew. The Irish low-cost carrier had been arguing that a move to easyJet violated the non-compete clause in Bellew’s contract.
Peter Bellew has acted as the chief operating officer of Ryanair since he moved from Malaysia Airlines as their CEO in 2017. However, now it seems as though he wants a change of scenery. The Irish aviation veteran is set to move to a competitor easyJet in 2020. Ryanair’s claim is that this violates its non-compete clause which lasts for a period of 12 months. However, the Irish high court ruled against this.
A varied career
Peter Bellew has had a fairly varied career in aviation. His first management position was not at an airline, but rather at an airport. In fact, Bellew was the director and general manager of Kerry Airport from 1993 to 2006. It was in 2006 that he made the jump to airlines.
In 2006, Bellew joined Ryanair for the first time. In his first stint at the company, he filled a variety of positions. Eventually he ended up in charge of flight operations at the Irish LCC. However, following nine years at the LCC, Bellew was offered a promotion, moving to become the CEO of Malaysia Airlines. He didn’t stay at Malaysia Airlines long, returning to Ryanair as the Cheif Operating Officer in 2016.
Another change of scenery
Now Peter Bellew is eyeing another change of scenery. In July he announced that he would be stepping down from Ryanair at the end of the year having served his six months notice period. At the time he didn’t announce what was next.
We now know, however, that he is headed to Ryanair’s rival LCC, easyJet. This is a move which hasn’t gone down super well with Ryanair, as they are pursuing legal action against it.
Where are we at?
So where does the story stand now? According to CH-Aviation, on the 23rd of December, the High Court of Ireland sided with Bellew. Justice Senan Allen commented on his ruling:
“I find that the covenant to which the defendant for valuable consideration freely agreed is, as a matter of law, void and unenforceable as an unjustified restraint of trade”
However, despite the ruling, Ryanair won’t back down with a spokesperson for the airline telling Simple Flying: “Ryanair has instructed its lawyers to immediately appeal this decision.”. If Ryanair was successful in its defence, Bellew wouldn’t have been able to join easyJet until January in 2021.
Do you think Bellew should be able to join easyJet straight away, or do you side with Ryanair? Let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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