Bjorn Kjos, a pioneer of low-cost travel as co-founder of Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA, is stepping down as chief executive officer after making progress toward resolving the carrier’s debt crisis.

Kjos, who helped found Norwegian in 1993 and led its rapid growth, will leave the post immediately, the company said last Thursday in a statement. Chief Financial Officer Geir Karlsen will become interim CEO until a permanent successor is found.

A former fighter pilot, Kjos established Norwegian as a major force in the European short-haul market, taking on no-frills giants led by Ryanair Holdings Plc. After that market proved tough to crack, he altered course to target low-cost long-haul flights, challenging giants such as British Airways on trans-Atlantic routes.

His heavily discounted fares proved popular with the public but margins were thin and fleet costs stretched the balance sheet to breaking point. Over the past year, Kjos, 72, has tempered growth to stabilize the company and preserve profit.

“You shouldn’t lead an airline past your 70s,” Kjos said on a video call after the company reported second-quarter results. “I’m way overdue to retire.”

The turnaround picked up pace in the second quarter, as earnings before interest and tax more than tripled to 622.8 million kroner ($73 million). The improvement has been secured by dropping the worst-performing routes, slowing aircraft deliveries and generally reining in the pace of growth. Capacity gained 6% in the period versus a 48% surge a year ago.

Still, Norwegian shares declined 5.8% to 42.10 kroner as of 11:48 a.m. in Oslo, dragging the return to negative 69% in the past 12 months, during which British Airways owner IAG SA dropped a takeover bid and a rights offering announced in February diluted equity.

Analysts at DNB suggested the CEO change without a permanent replacement, along with further cuts to growth plans and a smaller cash balance than expected, were negatives for the stock and would trigger a revision to full-year earnings estimates. A 700 million-kroner hit from the grounding of the Boeing Co. 737 Max, as well as Norwegian’s low fuel hedges, have also left the carrier exposed, Goodbody analysts said in a separate note.

Succession Plan

Kjos was the driving force behind the airline and “built it from nothing,” said Davy Stockbrokers analyst Stephen Furlong.

He has been CEO since 2002, while taking stints as chairman, guiding the company from a regional operator with 130 staff and four planes to a global airline employing more than 11,000 people and operating 162 aircraft.

“This was my last presentation, you can be happy with that,“ Kjos said with a wide grin, his arms outstretched. “Geir is awesome,” he said in a subsequent interview.

He had been saying for months that he wanted to retire after earnings showed signs of a recovery. Kjos will remain an adviser to Chairman Niels Smedegaard, 57, who plans to take on a more active role as the company shifts its focus toward profitability.

The ultimate fate of Norwegian remains unclear, with a report two weeks ago suggesting IAG is planning a fresh bid after earlier approaches were rejected -- though the London-based group said that wasn’t the case.

Deutsche Lufthansa AG also examined a purchase and the departure of Kjos following the exit in May of his ally, former chairman Bjorn Kise, may stoke further interest among major industry players.

“Whether it’s IAG or someone else, all this must be dealt with by the board,” Kjos, a significant owner, told Bloomberg. “We’re just a shareholder with less than 20%, so we’ll follow the stream.“

Another major item on the to-do list is securing a joint-venture plan that would bring in new financing for the airline’s fleet and help fund a bond maturity later this year. Interim CEO Karlsen said last Thursday that talks on the JV are progressing and the company expects clarity within weeks.

“We’ve had many interested parties who wanted to be part of this, and we chose one that we believe is a good fit and has good penetration in Asia, that was a criterion,” Kjos said.

廉价航空的先驱、挪威航空公司（Norwegian Air Shuttle ASA）的联合创始人比约恩·科约斯在缓解公司债务危机上取得重大进展后决定退休。

挪威航空公司在上周四的声明中表示，于1993年协助成立公司并带领它快速发展的科约斯将离职。首席财务官盖尔·卡尔森将在过渡时期暂代首席执行官，直到找到正式继任者为止。

曾经是战斗机飞行员的科约斯将挪威航空打造成了欧洲短途市场的主力军，和以瑞安航空控股（Ryanair Holdings Plc）为首的廉价航空巨头展开了竞争。在发现这个市场难以攻破后，他改变策略，转而主打低成本的长途航班，在跨大西洋航线上向英国航空（British Airways）等公司发起了挑战。

科约斯的超低折扣价深受公众欢迎，但如此一来，利润空间太小，飞机成本让资产负债达到了极限点。过去一年里，72岁的他为了保证公司稳定、维持经营利润，已经限制了业务的增长。

科约斯在公司发布第二季度财报后的视频电话中表示：“你不应该在70多岁时还领导一家航空公司。我已经逾期退休了。”

挪威航空在第二季度加快了转变的脚步，扣除利息和税金前的收益达到了6.228亿克罗纳（合7,300万美元），是之前的三倍。保证收益增长的途径包括取消业绩最差的路线，减少飞机交付，整体控制业务发展的速度。比起去年第二季度48%的运力提升，今年的提升幅度只有6%。

尽管如此，截至撰文当日的上午11:48，挪威航空在奥斯陆证券交易所的股价仍旧下跌了5.8%至42.1克罗纳，过去12个月里股票收益降低了69%。在此期间，英国航空的所有者国际航空集团（IAG SA）放弃了收购要约，而今年2月宣布的新股增发也稀释了股权。

DNB的分析师认为，挪威航空更换首席执行官且并非正式继任者，再加上发展计划的进一步削减和低于预期的现金结存，对股票会产生负面影响，可能导致对全年收益预期的修正。Goodbody的分析师在另一份照会中表示，波音公司（Boeing Co.）737 Max禁飞给挪威航空带来了7亿克罗纳的损失，再加上公司较低的燃油对冲，也让公司暴露在风险之中。

继任计划

Davy Stockbrokers的分析师斯蒂芬·弗隆表示，科约斯是这家航空公司背后的推手，并“让它从无到有”。

他从2002年起担任首席执行官并兼任董事长，带领公司从只有130名员工和4架飞机的区域运营商发展为拥有超过1.1万名员工和162架飞机的国际航空公司。

科约斯张开双臂，咧嘴笑道：“这是我最后一次上台展示，希望你们为此感到开心。”他在随后的采访中表示：“盖尔很棒。”

过去几个月里，科约斯一直表示希望在公司的收益出现好转迹象后退休。他将继续作为57岁的董事长尼尔斯·施米德加德的顾问。随着公司的重心倾向于盈利，尼尔斯计划扮演更加积极的角色。

挪威航空最终的命运依旧悬而未决，两周前的一篇报道推测国际航空集团在之前的收购被拒绝后，又计划提出一份新的出价——尽管这家总部位于伦敦的集团否认了这一情况。

德国汉莎航空（Deutsche Lufthansa AG）也在考虑收购挪威航空。科约斯的伙伴、前董事长比约恩·基斯已经于5月离职，随着他也离开公司，业内的主要竞争者可能会产生更大的兴趣。

作为重要的持股人，科约斯在接受彭博社采访时表示：“无论是国际航空集团还是其他公司，这些收购都将由董事会应对。我们的持股量不到20%，会跟随他们的决定。”

另一件待办的重要事项是确保合资企业计划顺利推进，这会让公司获得新的资金来购买客机及偿付今年晚些时候到期的债券。临时首席执行官卡尔森在上周四表示，关于合资企业的谈判进展顺利，具体情况会在几周内明晰。

科约斯表示：“有许多感兴趣的公司想要参与其中，我们选择了一家适合我们，且已在亚洲扎根的公司，这是我们选择的标准。”（财富中文网）

译者：严匡正