Radomír Lašák resigns as Prague Václav Havel Airport chief

Radomír Lašák has stepped down as chairman of the board of Letiště Praha, the operator of Prague’s Václav Havel Airport. He lasted less than three months in the post: he took office on Aug. 1 and resigned today for personal reasons. The Czech News Agency reported the news.

The airport’s sole shareholder, the Czech Ministry of Finance, will announce a tender for the vacant position. Until a new head is chosen, deputy board chairman Jiří Kraus will temporarily take over the duties. Lašák came to the post after Jiří Pos.

The appointment was controversial from the start. Before the airport, Lašák headed the airline Czech Airlines (České aerolinie), and he is blamed for part of the responsibility for its collapse. When his candidacy became known, trade unions declared strike readiness over concerns about the airport’s future. In mid-October, one of the union organizations withdrew it, deeming it inexpedient and unjustified.

Sources of the newspaper Hospodářské noviny painted a rather negative picture of his time in charge. According to employees, a stifling atmosphere reigned at the company, and management isolated itself from staff. They compared the working climate to 2006, when Lašák took over Czech Airlines.

Meanwhile, the airport’s financial results remain strong: net profit rose to 3.2 billion crowns, 800 million more than a year earlier. Gross operating profit reached 5.1 billion crowns. Last year, 17.8 million passengers passed through Václav Havel Airport.