Irish aviation chiefs provide gold standard in leadership

Last week three significant aviation companies provided updates to the stock market on their financial performance.

Each of them serves major but quite different markets but all three have an interesting common denominator — they have undertaken radical changes in strategy from positions of strength to drive shareholder value.

The companies concerned — IAG, AerCap and Ryanair — offer remarkable insights to the challenges and opportunities that exist in the global aviation industry. Each company is a huge enterprises in their respective markets and face fierce competitors. Yet, each is thriving after a series of strategic decisions that have fundamentally altered their business trajectory.