Aer Lingus has announced that its head of short haul operations and chief financial officer, Sean Coyle will be leaving the company to pursue other interests at the end of December. It is suspected that his reason for leaving the airline after just sixteen months is a disagreement with Christopher Mueller, the carriers new chief executive officer on how to run the airline in the future.

It is believed that Mr. Coyle, who was headhunted by the airline from rivals Ryanair, wanted to pursue the route of developing Aer Lingus as a point-to-point, low budget carrier. Mr. Mueller on the other hand wants to expand the airline and look towards developing relationships with other carriers including a possible transatlantic tie-up with United Airlines.

Many experts had predicted that Mr. Coyle would soon fill the position of CEO at Aer Lingus and his departure has come as something of a shock. In a statement Mr. Coyle said that he wished to thank his colleagues and the airline’s board of directors for all their support. He also said that he hoped that Aer Lingus would have every success in the future. At present there is no information on whether or not Mr. Coyle will be moving to another airline. There is also no news on a replacement for Mr. Coyle but the person who takes up the reigns will be the fourth to do so since 2005. Mr. Coyle has also resigned from his position on the airline’s board of directors.