Controversial Etihad Chief Commercial Officer Arik De Abruptly Departs

Imagine being Dr Nadia or Karen reading all this. Your jobs are literally to protect the people of the business and uphold the culture but instead the absolute deranged duo of the dodgy Brazilian Anton and the Chief of Grooming Kumar tell you to bark and you both get on all fours and start howling at the moon. Incredibly embarrassing to your professions and enabling these two horrible people to do whatever they want whilst you earn more money in a day than a teaboy does in a year. If they had any decency (which they don’t) CEO, Nadia and Karen would all resign immediately. You’ve all caused enough damage.

A Message to Arik Kumar

You underestimated the power of many, and now you are facing the consequences.

For years, many of us endured what we experienced as bullying, harassment, intimidation, and deeply unacceptable behaviour under your leadership. We raised our concerns through EY’s internal channels, trusting that someone would listen and take action. Instead, we felt ignored, while complaints appeared to be contained within HR and Legal, with little meaningful accountability.

But you made one fundamental mistake: you assumed we would remain silent forever. We didn't.

While you travelled the world enjoying first-class flights, luxury hotels, and VIP treatment, many of us were quietly documenting our experiences, gathering evidence, and building a case. You continued enjoying the privileges of your position while employees were left dealing with the consequences of a leadership culture that, in our view, too often lacked respect, empathy, and accountability.

Perhaps one of the most telling examples of your leadership was the way you travelled across our network, bringing what seemed like an entire army of senior leaders with you, only to confront our poor O1 and O2 outstation employees. Imagine mobilising such a large leadership entourage and travelling all that way just to stand in front of junior employees and yell at them. Is this what leadership is supposed to look like? Is this how you believe people should be managed? An entire army of leaders travelling across the network to intimidate employees who have far less power than you is not a demonstration of strength; it raises serious questions about leadership priorities and the culture you created.

And now, you have been fired.

After years of occupying a position of authority, you have discovered that no title makes anyone untouchable. No leadership position gives anyone the right to mistreat employees without consequences. And no amount of corporate influence can guarantee protection when serious concerns finally receive the attention they deserve.

Let this be a lesson to every leader who mistakes fear for respect, silence for loyalty, and an employee's patience for weakness.

Your close-knit group of loyalists also needs to take a hard look at itself. Those who witnessed concerning behaviour, enabled it, or dismissed employees' complaints should ask themselves whether they upheld the standards expected of leadership. Those who spent their time protecting your position rather than listening to employees must reflect on the consequences of their choices. Accountability should never stop with the person at the top, and loyalty should never come at the expense of basic human decency.

You may have lost your position, but for many employees, this goes far beyond one person's departure. It is about years of frustration, the feeling of being unheard, and the belief that internal reporting channels failed to deliver the accountability people expected. It is about employees who felt they had nowhere left to turn and who refused to accept that nothing would ever change.

As for your future career, that is now yours to navigate. The airline industry is a connected world, and those considering you for future leadership positions will form their own judgments based on credible information and the experiences of people who have worked with you. We will continue to speak up, share our experiences through appropriate channels, and ensure that legitimate concerns are not quietly buried again.

This was never simply about one individual having a personal dispute with you. It was about a collective experience, a demand to be heard, and the belief that employees deserve to work without fear of humiliation, intimidation, or retaliation.

We did not give up. We did not forget. And we refused to accept that nothing could ever change.

You underestimated the collective strength of the people you once had power over. You mistook our patience for weakness and our silence for surrender. That was your mistake.

Your dismissal marks the end of your time in this position, but it should also mark the beginning of a serious conversation about workplace culture, leadership accountability, and the responsibility every leader has towards the people they manage.

You had the title. You had the authority. You had every opportunity to lead. What you underestimated was the people.

Cargo STOP

Please, Cargo team, this space is dedicated to the Commercial Division and the concerns surrounding it. Kindly take your issues elsewhere rather than diverting the discussion. Let’s not lose sight of the main subject: Arik Kumar and the concerns raised about his leadership. Don’t allow the audience to lose focus on what this discussion is really about.

Ruaraidh Smeaton’s handling of this situation has been nothing short of disgraceful and raises serious questions about his integrity, leadership, and fitness to hold a position of responsibility.

He informed the team, but when it came to addressing the Arik issue, where was the accountability? Where was the honesty? Where was the basic recognition of the damage caused? Instead of demonstrating genuine leadership, he appeared to hide behind a prepared script. Not once did he offer a direct, meaningful apology for his own actions or acknowledge the impact of the decisions made under his leadership. Reading from a script is not accountability, and managing a difficult conversation is not the same as taking responsibility.

Even more concerning was his apparent determination to defend Cristina Hostench and dismiss concerns about nepotism. The reported circumstances surrounding her promotion demand serious scrutiny. How does someone with less than a year in the company, and whose relevant experience has been questioned, end up being fast-tracked to an SM1 position through an out-of-cycle promotion? If the reported connection to the Man City CEO through a family friendship played any role in that decision, it raises fundamental questions about fairness, transparency, and whether the same standards apply to everyone. Simply declaring that there was no nepotism does not resolve those questions. It makes an independent investigation even more necessary.

Ethics and Compliance must investigate this promotion independently and all others the REVc dept. The process, selection criteria, qualifications, approvals, and potential conflicts of interest must all be examined. Employees deserve to know that progression is based on merit, capability, and performance, not personal connections or privileged access.

There are also serious questions about the value delivered to the Etihad brand. Claims about Ruaraidh’s contribution to the brand and the work attributed to him deserve to be assessed against the actual record. Beyond Borders was established before he joined, and any claims of ownership or credit for that work should be examined objectively rather than accepted at face value.

What is most damaging is the wider leadership culture this situation appears to represent: leaders who fail to confront unacceptable behaviour, protect one another when difficult questions arise, and leave their teams to absorb the consequences. Employees are pushed to their limits while their wellbeing appears to become an afterthought. That is not high performance. It is a failure of leadership.

A senior leader's responsibility is not to protect their own reputation, shield colleagues from scrutiny, or deliver carefully rehearsed explanations. It is to act with integrity, accept responsibility, ensure fair treatment, and protect the people entrusted to their leadership.

When leaders fail those basic obligations, confidence in the organisation suffers. The reputation of Etihad Airways, the UAE’s national airline, should never be put at risk by questionable decisions, a lack of transparency, or a culture in which accountability appears to stop when senior leadership is involved.

It is time for independent scrutiny, genuine accountability, and meaningful consequences. Every leader who enabled or overlooked Arik’s behaviour, if substantiated, must be held accountable. Those responsible for decisions that compromised fairness, damaged trust, or disregarded employee wellbeing should not be allowed to evade scrutiny simply because of their seniority or connections.

Etihad deserves leaders who earn respect through their conduct, not their titles. Its employees deserve fairness, dignity, and the confidence that the rules apply equally to everyone. Anything less is an unacceptable failure of leadership.

The worst investment EY has is the HR. Then need to be replaced asap. Anyone remember how these HR ladies behave like puppets in the town halls and all hands when surrounded by these toxic leaders. Shame.. A Big Shame… The RM team never liked Indians to be considered for most of the positions and the CEO himself threatened to senior staffs in one of the townhalls to leave if you cant find anything better. Dear CEO, before u are throwb out, make sure you review salaries of everyone whom you have hired from outside for the same role that an existing senior staffs does. The difference in numbers is huge. I agree and support that Emirati’s staff should be paid well but for what is this culture that you Guys hire an 02 or 01 from outside( non emirati) and ask the existing lower grade collegue to teach them and eventually both end up doing same job but with different salary slabs . Such a shame.. Internal promotions also you guys paid less to existing experienced staff and being an outside for same role on higher salary. Such a Shame… Respected Government and Respected board members, please review the entire leadership and you will find more toxic people in the company yet.

I hope readers realise how their words can influence and shape others, causing damage and hurt especially to those in managerial positions.

I’ve noticed a lack of good leaders and managers at Revc where I work. A leader from another division might give recognition to a staff member but not the manager. Some managers simply don’t offer recognition or acknowledgement. Arik may have left but the problems persist.

Those who mistreated their own team members and spoke to people in an unacceptable manner are still walking around the office pretending nothing ever happened. You can’t distance yourself from Arik Kumar now.. it’s too late. Ms. D.R. we know you’re refreshing this page and reading every single comment the second it appears.

Punching walls, intimidation, screaming, verbal abuse, just some of the outrageous behaviors this idiot had in his repertoire.
Unfortunately, he set an example, and some of his most devoted disciples are still there, desperately clinging to positions of power- because that’s the only thing of value they have in their lives -using their authority to take out their frustrations and inner demons on their employees.
One of his most dedicated and proud disciples is still there: the unbearable Jagdish.
Arrogant, conceited, rude, incompetent, he poisons everything he touches. A truly toxic presence, a weed that contaminates everything around him.
May the day of his reckoning come sooner rather than later.

Management, while you’re at it, take a look at Jyoti - Head of Cabin Crew. Rude, arrogant, disrespectful and not a figure to have as the head of your cabin crew. Go back to Indigo. Why do we need to have these horrible people join and ruin the airline instead of lifting it up. Get rid of her before she goes further damage. People are the heart of the airline - time to start acting like it

Funny story that perfectly sums up how Commercial and Marketing worked: during Ramadan, an internal email announced reduced working hours, and people in other departments could leave around 4 pm. In Commercial and Marketing, nothing changed.

To make things even better, every two or three days, Arik would randomly walk around his areas at around 9 pm, taking pictures of people still sitting in the office.

Apparently, in Commercial and Marketing, performance wasn't measured by what you actually achieved, but by how late you stayed at the office.

Like many, I've watched the comments come in over the last few days from brave people sharing hard experiences, and I debated whether to add mine. I'm adding it.

I uprooted my family to move to the UAE, believing I was joining something that could be truly great. Instead, the fairy tale became one of a decision to make a swift exit, because the culture inside RevC made it beyond untenable.

Arik may have set the tone, but the leaders beneath him carried it out. From Javier Alija, VP of Sales to Dani Ryan, Director of Marketing, and Joystna, it just got worse and worse, and what I saw were leader who didn't back their people. Take Javier, who had RGMs and sales managers removed because they didn't support his mandate and because his boss did not like them, when the real problem was that they knew his “strategy” would not work (if we can call it strategy). When it didn't work, the blame went down, never up. Then, to solve the problem of Javi’s lack of experience, he brought in external consultants for a transformation project scoped at five months. More than a year later it still isn't complete and hasn't delivered anything material. Not to mention, these consultants were Brazilian with ties to Antonoaldo, and limited checks were carried in the procurement, audit and compliance processes. That is the cost of the decisions made, and the people who paid for it were the ones pushed out.

Dani Ryan was no different. I have seen her scream at team members, colleagues and peers in front of their colleagues and speak to people in a way no one should be spoken to at work. Of all the leaders who followed Arik's example, her treatment of people was the hardest to watch, and it became apparent both Javi and Dani lacked the experience and knowledge to lead the teams they were tasked to lead, and the more pressure they received and no ability to respond on their own, the pressure was consistently passed downwards and outwards.

The late nights, the yelling, the lost weekends for last minute midday meetings, the inappropriate commentary, the expectation that RevC operated under different rules from the rest of the organisation, the bizarre duty travel itineraries, the random out of cycle promotions, the pretty boys who joined the RevC department, and an HR function that witnessed it and blamed those who spoke up in exit interviews: none of this was hidden.

In my view, the pressure of these roles outweighed the experience the leaders brought to them, and instead of owning that, they passed it onto their teams. I hope the organisation reflects honestly and puts experienced, respectful leadership in place. I hope EY gets back to greatness one day, there are truly such great people there doing great work.

To those who led with grace and empathy, including Mariya, Jurriaan and Greg, and to those who left voluntarily or involuntarily: you deserved better.

Shame on you all for allowing people to go through these kinds of experiences!!

Literally, nobody wants to join EY anymore, and even those who do often leave after a few months or a year, or as soon as they find a better opportunity. They simply treat EY as a stepping stone because they know how toxic the work environment is.

I was sitting with an ambassador and shared my experience at EY. What surprised me most was that nobody seemed shocked, because they were already aware of how horrible the workplace culture is.

Dear Dr. Nadia, Fatima AlSahlawi, and all the current VPs who worked under Arik: Step aside and make room for better leaders, because you do not deserve to hold these positions.

AD was an extremely toxic leader, completely unfit for an organisation with the reputation and stature of a national carrier like Etihad. Those reporting directly to him seemed to lack the courage to challenge wrongdoing or speak up when things were clearly wrong. Instead, they simply nodded along.

I have personally heard Kavita (Digital) screaming at and publicly berating her team members on the office floor early in the morning. The culture seemed to value hours spent in the office over actual performance and results. Having a life outside work was practically treated as a crime. Attending to family responsibilities, medical appointments, or even essential personal errands was frowned upon. Employees who were unwell were mocked rather than treated with basic empathy.

I still remember a town hall where Arik was celebrated for attending work while his father’s funeral was taking place. Think about the message that sends: if a leader is expected to set aside grief and show up at work, what chance does anyone else have of being allowed to mourn? Personal sacrifice was glorified, while basic human needs and boundaries were disregarded.

HR, which should have been a safe channel for employees to raise concerns, allegedly became another source of intimidation. Employees were threatened with consequences for supposedly spreading negativity when they voiced concerns or gave honest feedback in employee surveys. Some were even terminated. How can an organisation build trust when speaking up feels like a risk to one's career?

There were also serious questions about leadership entitlement. AD reportedly expected complimentary hotel suites wherever he travelled, whether for business or personal stays. It was treated as an expectation rather than a privilege. That speaks volumes about the culture of entitlement at the top.

Dani's conduct has been particularly disappointing. She is SHAMELESS.
Seeing her continue to walk the corridors as though nothing has happened raises serious questions about accountability. Employees who experienced or witnessed this behaviour deserve to see meaningful consequences, not business as usual.

And as for Javi, enough has already been said about his capabilities and leadership.

Ultimately, a company's reputation is not protected by its name alone. It is shaped by how its people are treated, whether leaders are held accountable, and whether employees can speak up without fear. No organisation should glorify burnout, punish honesty, or expect people to sacrifice their dignity and personal lives to prove their commitment. Leadership is a responsibility, not a licence to intimidate or demand unquestioning loyalty.

Can someone tell what will happen to the remaining managers, like Javi and Dani? I feel like this will end with AD leaving while the rest get off scot-free. Nothing will change because they’re still being protected by HR and Compliance. They’re all in the same boat.