Croatia Airlines gets new CEO

Krešimir Kučko takes over

Croatia Airlines has named Krešimir Kučko as the new CEO of the national carrier, taking over the reins from Srećko Šimunović. Up until now Kučko has served as the airline’s representative for the Benelux region, based in Brussels. He has previously been the airline’s representative in Switzerland and the Netherlands. Šimunović will have the option to either leave the carrier, with a hefty bonus, or stay without additional pay. Kučko’s appointment this Friday hasn’t gone down well with employees since the new CEO has been accused of harassment.

This January, Krešimir Kučko was handed a final notice prior to dismissal for harassment of female colleagues. In 2011, Kučko was involved in several incidents. On a Croatia Airlines flight from Amsterdam to Zagreb he hurled verbal insults at a cabin crew member when she protested that Kučko’s wife was not allowed to enter the aircraft with her pet dog, local media report. A few months later he again insulted an airport employee in Amsterdam after she informed him his carry-on luggage was too heavy. A female staff member working with Kučko at Croatia Airlines’ representative office also reported him for harassment for which he was ordered to appear in front of the carrier’s Ethics Committee. The female employee in question is now suing the airline. All of incidents took place in the span of last year.

The newly named CEO has retaliated to the abovementioned accusations saying recently that employees wouldn’t be happy even if Sir Richard Branson was named to run the company. It has now also emerged that the new CEO is a former neighbour and good friend of Croatian Prime Minister Zoran Milanović.