DAA creates new role of Deputy Chief Executive

"Staff at the airports authority were told this morning that Nick Cole, who is currently chief executive of DAA International, and who is also a member of the executive team, will take the newly created position. He will also continue with his current role. The announcement made internally by Siobhan Griffin, the chief people officer at DAA, made no reference to Mr Jacobs and did not explain how his role would interact with the new position."

"Any such move, which he is preparing to resist, would mark a serious escalation of the months-long boardroom rift at the semi-state airport operator and could move the stand-off to the courts. The creation of a new position of Deputy Chief Executive may only fuel speculation that the DAA board is positioning itself for a situation in which Mr Jacobs is no longer in day-to-day control of the company."

"A planned €1m exit package for Mr Jacobs, negotiated in September following mediation, is now off the table. It would have meant him leaving the role in January. The former Ryanair executive is just three years into a seven-year term at the DAA. The package needed to be signed off by Transport Minister Darragh O'Brien and Public Expenditure Minister Jack Chambers, which never happened."

Nick Cole, currently chief executive of DAA International and an executive team member, has been appointed to a newly created Deputy Chief Executive position while retaining his existing role. The internal announcement made no reference to CEO Mr Jacobs and did not explain how the new position will interact with his responsibilities. Some board members may consider suspending Mr Jacobs, which he is preparing to resist and which could escalate the dispute to the courts. A planned €1m exit package for Mr Jacobs is now off the table and was not signed off by the relevant ministers. Mr Jacobs accepted an invitation to appear before the Oireachtas transport committee on January 21. Nick Cole joined DAA in 2018 and leads DAA International, which operates Jeddah airport where passenger numbers exceed 50 million annually.

Read at Irish Independent