Fernando Candela - Iberia
Biography
Fernando Candela has a long history in the IAG Group. Before joining Iberia as chairman and CEO, he was appointed CEO of LEVEL in September 2019 and head of transformation at IAG in October 2020. Previously, he was CEO of Iberia Express for six years, during which Iberia’s great expansion took place, and before that, he was director of planning and management control at Air Nostrum.
Since his time as IAG’s head of transformation, Fernando has led the transformation programme of the entire IAG Group, which has enabled each airline to successfully adapt to the paradigm changes that the sector has undergone in recent years. And as CEO of LEVEL, Fernando was a key player in consolidating the low-cost model for long-haul flights and turning LEVEL into a leader in this segment at Barcelona airport.
His key challenges as CEO of Iberia will be to contribute to the repayment of the debt contracted during the pandemic, the growth of the airline, especially in the United States and Latin America, and to advance in the purchase operation of Air Europa.
A graduate in industrial engineering from the Polytechnic University of Valencia, Fernando completed his training with a range of executive programmes at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), IMD, INSEAD, Instituto de Empresa, and IESE.
