Nick Swift CFO British Airways

This will be the second time Swift has worked for an airline. After working as an accountant with Touche Ross, he was a financial reporting manager for Air New Zealand. It’s reported that he didn’t hesitate to take the new position. He says that he has enjoyed working at Go-Ahead, but it’s a huge privilege to get an opportunity to work at British Airways.

Swift will join the airline on March 7. In the last year at Go-Ahead he earned a £284,000 basic salary, but his total pay including bonuses and other benefits was around £711,000. British Airways has declined to detail how much they will be paying Swift, but his basic pay is thought to be around £440,000, which is the amount Williams was earning in the role.

After joining Go-Ahead in 2007, Swift helped the group through the recession, which included the sale of Aviance, the company’s problematic airport ground handling business. Chief executive Keith Ludeman, who will retire from Go-Ahead in July, said that he understands why Swift felt he couldn’t turn down this opportunity to return to the aviation industry, and it’s a good promotion for him. He’s had a little bit of exposure to aviation at the company as a ground handler, he quipped.

British Arways