Etihad's Chief Revenue & Commercial Officer Arik De has left the airline with no notice and no replacement named — and no mention of the CEO.
Ben, as you have one of the most read travel blogs, I hope Etihad reads this comment. With family in the Gulf region, I used to recommend Etihad as a passenger friendly airline. When Etihad adopted its draconian points expiration policy, it set a tone. And, my recommendations moved to other carriers.
Customer service still sucks.
Before and during his time.
The culture is always like that.
The penny pinching LC ME3.
New terminal is just lipstick.
A great airline only when nothing goes wrong even little things.
I exchanged messages with him briefly this afternoon after the news broke. He seems positive and optimistic, but to be fair, positive and optimistic have never been in short supply with Arik. I wish him well - he is definitely someone that will make things interesting wherever he winds up next.