Ryanair has named Michael O'Leary's successor. Mr. O'Leary will move up to the role of CEO of the Ryanair Group. As a result, tomorrow Eddie Wilson will become the Chief Executive Officer of the airline Ryanair.

Eddie Wilson is currently the Human Resources chief at Ryanair. However, as of tomorrow, Mr. Wilson will take Michael O'Leary's role as CEO of the airline Ryanair. Mr. O'Leary is moving to the role of CEO of the Ryanair Group. As a result of the move, Eddie Wilson will still report to his superior, Michael O'Leary.

Why the change?

Historically Ryanair had been a standalone airline. However, recently the airline has diversified its offerings. As such, what was once one Irish low-cost airline has become a number of European low-cost airlines which are a part of the Ryanair Group. While Mr. O'Leary was CEO of the airline Ryanair, he is now moving to become the CEO of the group which holds all of these airlines.

The main component of the Ryanair Group is, of course, the original Ryanair Airline. However, this was joined by Laudamotion which the group fully took over earlier this year. The group is also due to rebrand its Polish Ryanair Sun subsidiary to BUZZ, the airline with a bumblebee painted on its tail.

Buzz, Laudamotion, and Ryanair have two more sister airlines. As Ryanair looks to establish a presence in the United Kingdom the group has set up a small airline, Ryanair UK. The aim of Ryanair UK is to have aircraft on the UK aircraft registry, in preparation for Brexit. The final airline was the most recent to be set up. Malta Air sees the Ryanair group transferring some of its aircraft to the Maltese aircraft registry, in addition to the setting up of a Malta base.

Who is Eddie Wilson?

Eddie Wilson has been described by many publications as a "veteran of Ryanair". Mr. Wilson has worked for Ryanair for 22 of its 34 years of operation. Having been at Ryanair for 64% of its existence has given him a great appreciation for how the airline is run.

Wilson currently holds a position as head of Human Resources at the Irish low-cost carrier. However, with Mr. O'Leary remaining the top man within Ryanair, some expect that he will still call the shots.

The position of Chief Operating Officer will also open shortly. The current holder of the title, Peter Bellew, is due to move to take up a management position with Ryanair's main competitor, easyJet.

Do you think Michael O'Leary will continue to call the shots for the airline Ryanair? Let us know in the comments!