The recent wave of departures from budget carrier easyJet claimed its top figure yesterday as chief executive Andy Harrison revealed plans to resign after a long-running argument over strategy between the airline’s founder and Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, its largest shareholder.

Following a 12-month period hindered by a public boardroom dispute over the expansion plans for the no-frills carrier, Harrison is now the fifth key figure at easyJet’s eight-member management board to resign during the last year.

EasyJet explained that Harrison was leaving the airline in order “undertake new challenges. But it also emerged that Harrison had sough an earlier step-down, but had been stopped by the easyJet board this summer with an unusual intervention.

It is believed that Harrison had wanted to step down last May following the departures of eteh carrier’s chairman Sir Colin Chandler and its finance director, Jeff Carr. At the time, board directors rapidly agreed to give a one-off payment to Harrison to convince him to remain in place.

The carrier confirmed through a statement yesterday that its chief executive had agreed to a retention deal in May, including the promise that he would remain at the helm of the low-cost airline until at least March 2010.

 EasyJet didn’t comment on Harrison’s attempt to part with company earlier in the year.

The company announced that Harrison would step down in June 2010. It is believed that his pay-off has been factored into his ‘don’t-leave’ package.

The news prompted easyJet shares to fall 5.2% to 357.2p as investors reacted to Harrison’s resignation, meaning that a carrier without a finance director is planning to be without a chief executive makes for nervous trading.

Arbuthnot Securities analyst Gerald Khoo said that his company accept that a firm without a permanent CFO and looking for a new CEO could find it hard to outperform in the short run, adding that Jeff Carr and Andy Harrison are well respected with investors.

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Filed under Business & Finance, Travel News, UK News

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