Dame Carolyn Julia McCall (born 13 September 1961) is a British businesswoman. She was the chief executive of

EasyJet EasyJet plc (styled as easyJet) is a British multinational low-cost airline group headquartered at London Luton Airport. It operates domestic and international scheduled services on 927 routes in more than 34 countries via its affiliate airlin ...

from 2010 to 2017.

Early life

McCall was born on 13 September 1961 in

Bangalore Bengaluru, also known as Bangalore (List of renamed places in India#Karnataka, its official name until 1 November 2014), is the Capital city, capital and largest city of the southern States and union territories of India, Indian state of Kar ...

, India. Her Scottish father, Arthur McCall, ran the Far East division of a US textile multinational and her Irish-born mother, Colleen McCall, worked for the British High Commission in India. She was educated in

India India, officially the Republic of India, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by area, seventh-largest country by area; the List of countries by population (United Nations), most populous country since ...

and

Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...

until her teens, then at a

Roman Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics worldwide as of 2025. It is among the world's oldest and largest international institut ...

girls' boarding school in

Derbyshire Derbyshire ( ) is a ceremonial county in the East Midlands of England. It borders Greater Manchester, West Yorkshire, and South Yorkshire to the north, Nottinghamshire to the east, Leicestershire to the south-east, Staffordshire to the south a ...

. She studied for a BA degree in history and politics at the

University of Kent The University of Kent (formerly the University of Kent at Canterbury, abbreviated as UKC) is a Collegiate university, collegiate public university, public research university based in Kent, United Kingdom. The university was granted its roya ...

Canterbury Canterbury (, ) is a City status in the United Kingdom, city and UNESCO World Heritage Site, in the county of Kent, England; it was a county borough until 1974. It lies on the River Stour, Kent, River Stour. The city has a mild oceanic climat ...

Career

''The Guardian''

McCall applied to be a research planner at ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in Manchester in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'' and changed its name in 1959, followed by a move to London. Along with its sister paper, ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardi ...

''. As she rose through the

Guardian Media Group Guardian Media Group plc (GMG) is a British-based mass media company owning various media operations including ''The Guardian'', and formerly ''The Observer''. The group is wholly owned by the Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the fin ...

behind Marland, ''Management Today'' magazine called her "one of the toughest operators to have risen through The Guardian Media Group's ranks." After rising to become CEO of Guardian Newspapers Ltd (now Guardian News & Media Ltd) in August 2006, she became CEO of the Guardian Media Group. During her tenure, the ''

Manchester Evening News The ''Manchester Evening News'' (''MEN'') is a regional daily newspaper covering Greater Manchester in North West England, founded in 1868. It is published Monday–Saturday; a Sunday edition, the ''MEN on Sunday'', was launched in February 20 ...

'' and regionally-based business were sold to

Trinity Mirror Reach plc (known as Trinity Mirror between 1999 and 2018) is a British newspaper, magazine and digital publisher. It is one of the UK's biggest newspaper groups, publishing 240 regional papers in addition to the national ''Daily Mirror'', '' ...

. A 49.9% stake in Trader Media Group was sold to

Apax Partners Apax Partners LLP is a British private equity firm, headquartered in London, England. The company also operates out of six other offices in New York, Hong Kong, Mumbai, Tel Aviv, Munich and Shanghai. As of March 2024, the firm had raised and adv ...

, in a deal that valued the business at £1.35bn.

EasyJet

On 24 March 2010, McCall's appointment as the chief executive of

was announced. She was said to prefer a "pragmatic approach to

human resources Human resources (HR) is the set of people who make up the workforce of an organization, business sector, industry, or economy. A narrower concept is human capital, the knowledge and skills which the individuals command. Similar terms include ' ...

rather than politically correct niceties". McCall became one of five female CEOs of a

FTSE 100 Index The Financial Times Stock Exchange 100 Index, also called the FTSE 100 Index, FTSE 100, FTSE, or, informally, the "Footsie" , is the United Kingdom's best-known stock market index of the 100 most highly capitalised blue chips listed on ...

company. During McCall's tenure at EasyJet, the airline's shares almost quadrupled, and McCall arranged for the airline to "snatch up pieces" of Air Berlin and

Alitalia Alitalia - Società Aerea Italiana S.p.A., operating as Alitalia (), was an Italian airline which was once the flag carrier and largest airline of Italy. The company had its head office in Fiumicino, in the Metropolitan City of Rome Capital. ...

. McCall's departure from EasyJet was announced on 17 July 2017 after seven years at the company. Michael O'Leary, the CEO of rival

Ryanair Ryanair is an Irish Low-cost carrier#Ultra low-cost carrier, ultra low-cost airline group headquartered in Swords, County Dublin, Ireland. The parent company, Ryanair Holdings plc, includes subsidiaries Ryanair , Malta Air, Buzz (Ryanair), Buzz ...

, said the airline industry would have been poorer without her; "I clearly underestimated her and I was proved wrong. She forced us to up our game on customer service. EasyJet and the industry are better as a result of her tenure." Willie Walsh, chief executive of the

British Airways British Airways plc (BA) is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. It is headquartered in London, England, near its main Airline hub, hub at Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and pass ...

parent

International Airlines Group International Consolidated Airlines Group S.A., Trade name, trading as International Airlines Group and usually shortened to IAG, is a British-Spanish Multinational corporation, multinational airline holding company with its registered office in ...

, said he was "sorry to see Carolyn cCallleave". McCall left EasyJet with a £5 million payment. The company appointed Johan Lundgren, then deputy chief executive of TUI Group, as her successor.

ITV

On 8 January 2018, following seven years as easyJet chief executive, McCall became the first female chief executive of commercial broadcaster ITV. She replaced Adam Crozier in the role. She is a creator of

BritBox BritBox is a British Over-the-top media service, over-the-top Video on demand#Subscription models, video on demand Streaming television, streaming service founded by BBC Studios and ITV plc, ITV which operates in eight countries across Australi ...

, a subscription video service venture in partnership with the

BBC The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is a British public service broadcaster headquartered at Broadcasting House in London, England. Originally established in 1922 as the British Broadcasting Company, it evolved into its current sta ...

which launched of late 2019 in the UK. She said "It's quite bold, going into a market which

Netflix Netflix is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. The service primarily distributes original and acquired films and television shows from various genres, and it is available internationally in multiple lang ...

has already been in for eight years." She closed BritboxUK in 2022 when it was replaced by ITVX. McCall earned a £3.7 million salary at ITV in 2018. Her 2019 base salary was set to increase by 2.5 per cent "in line with the wider employee group". In April 2020, McCall, along with other senior executives, took a 20% pay cut in the wake of the

coronavirus Coronaviruses are a group of related RNA viruses that cause diseases in mammals and birds. In humans and birds, they cause respiratory tract infections that can range from mild to lethal. Mild illnesses in humans include some cases of the comm ...

pandemic. In June 2023, she appeared before the

Culture, Media and Sport Committee The Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, formerly the Digital, Culture, Media and Sport Select Committee, is one of the Select committee (United Kingdom), select committees of the House of Commons of the United Kingdom, House of Commons, es ...

, where she was interrogated by Caroline Dinenage about the culture at ITV. The same month, Jay Hunt was tipped by proactiveinvestors.co.uk as a potential replacement for McCall as Chief Executive of

ITV plc ITV plc is a British media company that holds 13 of the 15 regional television licences that make up the ITV (TV network), ITV network (Channel 3), the oldest and largest commercial terrestrial television network in the United Kingdom. ITV plc ...

Other

McCall was a non-executive director of Lloyds TSB between 2008 and 2009 and New Look between 1999 and 2005, a position to which she was reappointed in 2010. She was also a non-executive director of

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

between 2005 and 2008, a position which she resigned from after Tesco sued The Guardian for libel. She was chair of the

Business in the Community Business in the Community (BITC) is a British business-community outreach charity promoting responsible business, Corporate social responsibility, CSR, corporate responsibility, and is one of the The Prince's Charities, Prince's Charities of Cha ...

project Opportunity Now. McCall served as a non-executive board member in the

Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy The Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) was a Departments of the Government of the United Kingdom, ministerial department of the Government of the United Kingdom, United Kingdom Government, from July 2016 to Februar ...

between 2017 and 2020.

Personal life

She is married to Peter Frawley. The couple have three children (Emmeline, Max, and Dan) and live in Berkhamsted. McCall was named

Veuve Clicquot Veuve Clicquot Ponsardin () is a Champagne house founded in 1772 and based in Reims. It is one of the largest Champagne houses. Madame Clicquot Ponsardin, Madame Clicquot is credited with major breakthroughs, creating the first known Champag ...

Businesswoman of the Year in April 2008, and was appointed

Officer of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(OBE) in the 2008 Birthday Honours for services to women in business. In February 2013, she was assessed as one of the 100 most powerful women in the United Kingdom by '' Woman's Hour'' on

BBC Radio 4 BBC Radio 4 is a British national radio station owned and operated by the BBC. The station replaced the BBC Home Service on 30 September 1967 and broadcasts a wide variety of spoken-word programmes from the BBC's headquarters at Broadcasti ...

. In June 2014, McCall was awarded a Doctor of Science Honoris Causa by Cranfield University in recognition of her outstanding contribution to the aerospace industry and her distinguished achievements in international business. She was appointed

Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire The Most Excellent Order of the British Empire is a British order of chivalry, rewarding valuable service in a wide range of useful activities. It comprises five classes of awards across both civil and military divisions, the most senior two o ...

(DBE) in the 2016 New Year Honours for services to the aviation industry.

References

External links

Biography at easyJet
{{DEFAULTSORT:McCall, Carolyn 1961 births Living people 21st-century English businesspeople 21st-century English businesswomen Businesspeople from Bengaluru Alumni of the University of Kent Alumni of the University of London British airline chief executives British corporate directors British newspaper executives British women chief executives Chief executives in the publishing industry Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire EasyJet English chief executives English people of Scottish descent English people of Irish descent English television executives Guardian Media Group ITV people Lloyds Banking Group people Mass media people from Hertfordshire People from Berkhamsted Tesco people Women television executives