Dive Brief:

• British Airways Chief Finance and Transformation Officer José Antonio Barrionuevo will succeed Nicholas Cadbury as group CFO for the airline’s owner, International Consolidated Airlines Group, according to a Friday press release.
• Barrionuevo will take the finance reins from Cadbury, who has served as CFO for IAG since March 2022, in June, the London-based group — which also owns airlines including Aer Lingus, Iberia and Vueling — said in the release.
• Barrionuevo brings “significant experience in finance, transformation and strategy in both Iberia and British Airways and in capital markets,” IAG CEO Luis Gallego said in a statement included in the release. “He is a well-respected, accomplished and experienced CFO with a strong track record.”

Dive Insight:

IAG credited the appointment to its succession planning process, which “develops career paths for senior leaders across the different operating companies and businesses,” according to the release. Cadbury will remain with the business over the next six months to assist with a smooth transition, the company said.

Barrionuevo joined IAG in 2013 as director of strategy and transformation at its subsidiary Iberia, according to the release. Over the course of his ten-year tenure with the Spanish airline, he served in a variety of roles including a seven-year span as CFO, according to his LinkedIn profile. He assumed his current role at British Airways in July 2023. Before joining IAG, he worked at JPMorgan Chase and McKinsey & Company.

The CFO swap comes as the business continues to focus on strong profitability and shareholder returns. Under Cadbury’s financial leadership, IAG “has built back its balance sheet and profitability, improved shareholder returns, positioning for long-term sustainable growth,” Gallego said in the Friday press release.

During the group’s most recent earnings call for its third quarter, Cadbury highlighted strengthening the company’s balance sheet as IAG’s first priority, according to a transcript. Its second priority “is to invest in the long-term strength of the business at high rates of return with a focus on rebuilding our fleet, improving our customer experience and enhancing our digital capabilities and advancing our sustainability agenda,” he said.

For the quarter ended, Sept. 30, the business has grown operating profit by about 18% year-over-year, Gallego said in a statement included in its Nov. 7 earnings release. The company has also almost completed a €1 billion share buyback program it announced last February, according to the release.

However, the group also saw its net profit for the three-month period fall by 2.3% YoY to about €1.4 billion, due in part to weaker demand during the summer months which saw a decline in the number of passengers flying on its airlines for the period, according to a report at the time by The Wall Street Journal.

IAG is set to report its full-year 2025 results in February. For the full year, it is expecting capital expenditures of approximately €3.7 billion, as well as anticipating total fuel costs of €7.1 billion.