A little over a year after taking office, CEO EL AL Avigal Soreq announces his resignation. Sorek will be appointed CEO US Fuel – A company from which he came to El Al, where he served as vice president and in various positions for about a decade.
“After deliberation and deep thought, despite my great love for El Al and much of our enjoyment of our joint work, I would like to end my role as CEO of El Al. I am ready to assist in the continuation of El Al’s recovery during the transition period and even beyond that, as much as you see fit, “Sorek wrote to El Al’s Chairman of the Board, Amikam Ben Zvi.
Whistler began work at El Al in early 2021, at the most challenging time the company has known as a global aviation industry. A few months earlier, control of El Al had been transferred to Kenny Rosenberg from a wing company of Tami Mozes-Borovich.
Sorek, an accountant by training, was recruited to El Al in order to rehabilitate the company. He led El Al’s negotiations with the Ministry of Finance regarding the formulation of an outline of assistance that would allow El Al to emerge from the difficulties it encountered under the influence of the corona plague. During this period, El Al parted ways with a third of its employees, and today it employs about 4,300 people and has a fleet of 45 aircraft.
In an interview with Whistle last September, Soreq said: “I am in a mode of crisis management.” Whistling does not come from the aviation worlds, however he revealed then that “I had a dream of being the CEO of a large or significant company.”
In the sign of recovery
These days, El Al is in an optimistic period and a sign of recovery due to the demand for flights leading up to Passover and towards summer. El Al’s path to recovery also includes receiving a $ 130 million loan from Phoenix, under which it will enslave its frequent flyer club, while Phoenix will have the option to purchase shares from the club that operates as a separate company.
El Al ended the fourth quarter of 2021 with operating income of $ 265 million, reflecting a growth of 5% compared to the third quarter and a growth of 137% compared to the fourth quarter of 2020 – the corona year. In the fourth quarter, the company’s volume of operations was 46% of its volume of activity in 2019, now the numbers are significantly higher, as the company approaches the dimensions of its 2019 operations.
El Al ended 2021 with a 38% growth in revenue compared to 2020, to $ 857 million, a growth of 32% compared to the 2019 data. El Al has high depreciation and financing expenses, following the purchase and lease of aircraft in previous years, which led it to a loss of 413 million Dollars in 2021, following a loss of $ 531 million in 2020.
The company’s accountants attached a “live business” note to the reports. Upon publication of the reports, Whistler said the sky was clearing, and that “it will take us more than two years to lower the level of leverage.”
According to EL AL reports, Soreq’s salary cost for 2021 amounted to NIS 2.5 million, a third of which (NIS 831,000) for an adjustment grant “that may be granted when the company leaves.”
To the company’s employees, Soreq wrote that he made the decision after seriously considering it, “especially because I loved El Al a lot and my absolute identification with everything it represents for the State of Israel. In the end, I chose to end my position, since the appointment as CEO of Delek It is a closing circle for me. “
Sorek also updated that he will continue in his position in the coming months until a replacement is appointed. Indeed, the question of the replacement is now being asked: According to industry sources, the controlling shareholders and the board of directors of EL AL may be looking for Sorek’s replacement or replacement within the company and among the existing managerial backbone.