Carolyn McCall

Dame Carolyn Julia McCall (born 13 September 1961) is a British businesswoman. She was the chief executive of EasyJet from 2010 to 2017.

McCall was born on 13 September 1961 in Bangalore, India. Her Scottish father, Arthur McCall, ran the Far East division of a US textile multinational and her Irish-born mother, Colleen McCall, worked for the British High Commission in India. She was educated in India and Singapore until her teens, then at a Roman Catholic girls' boarding school in Derbyshire.^{[citation needed]} She studied for a BA degree in history and politics at the University of Kent, Canterbury.^{[citation needed]}

McCall applied to be a research planner at The Guardian. As she rose through the Guardian Media Group behind Marland, Management Today magazine called her "one of the toughest operators to have risen through The Guardian Media Group's ranks."

After rising to become CEO of Guardian Newspapers Ltd (now Guardian News & Media Ltd) in August 2006, she became CEO of the Guardian Media Group. During her tenure, the Manchester Evening News and regionally-based business were sold to Trinity Mirror. A 49.9% stake in Trader Media Group was sold to Apax Partners, in a deal that valued the business at £1.35bn.

On 24 March 2010, McCall's appointment as the chief executive of EasyJet was announced. She was said to prefer a "pragmatic approach to human resources rather than politically correct niceties". McCall became one of five female CEOs of a FTSE 100 Index company.

During McCall's tenure at EasyJet, the airline's shares almost quadrupled in value, and McCall arranged for the airline to "snatch up pieces" of Air Berlin and Alitalia.

McCall's departure from EasyJet was announced on 17 July 2017 after seven years at the company. Michael O'Leary, the CEO of rival Ryanair, said the airline industry would have been poorer without her; "I clearly underestimated her and I was proved wrong. She forced us to up our game on customer service. EasyJet and the industry are better as a result of her tenure." Willie Walsh, chief executive of the British Airways parent International Airlines Group, said he was "sorry to see Carolyn [McCall] leave".

McCall left EasyJet with a £5 million payment. The company appointed Johan Lundgren, then deputy chief executive of TUI Group, as her successor.