Golden brooch for his career. This is how he qualifies in the aviation sector the position of CEO of Iberia that, after the resignation of Javier Sánchez Prieto, Fernando Candela assumed at the beginning of July. A lifelong man in the sector with more than 30 years of experience, close friend of Luis Gallego, current CEO of IAG, the parent company of Iberia, who held until 2021 the same position that he has now offered to the friend of he. A personal relationship that has had a lot of weight for Candela's decision.
Because it is a closure for your career does not mean that the new position is going to be a walk. Candela, a 64-year-old Valencian, is chosen to pilot for at least the next six months one of the most complicated journeys for the Spanish airline, that of managing its merger with Air Europa, if Brussels finally gives its placet, or in the event Instead, look for a plan B to complete the challenge of turning Barajas airport into a hub capable of competing with Paris, London or Amsterdam.
His choice has not been accidental. He has an impeccable track record in the sector, he was CEO of Iberia Express for six years, where he forged his friendship with Gallego. In 2019 he was appointed CEO of Level, and Director of Transformation of IAG since 2020. His beginnings in the aviation sector date back to his time at the Valencian-based airline Air Nostrum. An industrial engineer by training, he has gone through companies such as the Andersen Consulting consultancy or the Uralita industrial company.
“He is a very analytical man. Excel is his tool. He prefers it to any power point. For him, what is not measured is not achieved”, say those who have worked side by side on it. Skills that will come in handy for another of his challenges: paying off a debt of about 1,000 million that Iberia has acquired to weather the pandemic. "It will not be a problem. He is passionate about numbers ”, say those who know him well, they even say that among his passions is one as unique as mathematics. “They are his hobby. He has studied them in a self-taught way and now he even teaches classes ”, they comment.
With these clues, everything points to thinking that Candela is something like a Pythagorean engrossed in his accounts. But nothing further. Friends and collaborators describe him as "close and affable". “I have never seen him lose his temper in any situation. She always takes into account the contributions of the entire team. She listens to everyone and makes her calculations to make the decision ”, explain those who have worked under her command.
For him, the accuracy of the data is not incompatible with personal treatment. He is one of those who has the habit of cultivating human relations with all his team and regularly spends time having coffee with his subordinates. "He likes to get to know the personal part and tries to help when possible," say those who have worked with him.
A human side that has also weighed heavily in the decision to adopt this new position. He will allow her to be closer to his wife, a family doctor in Valencia who has kept his job while Candela drove Level from London, her older twins, already 28 years old, and older parents. Moving his command ship to Madrid also brings him closer to Denia, his holiday paradise where he likes to enjoy paellas after spending a few hours mountain biking, his best-known hobby after mathematics, but which he combines with his passion for guitar. Mythical was his jump onto the stage at one of the parties that were organized at Iberia Express. The king of excel, did not hesitate to join the group that entertained the evening and join the guitar-in-hand band and mark with them some scores that stunned more than one. And it is that deep down Candela still cultivates the spirit that in his youth led him to take the reins of his Golf GTI Turbo 16 valves and press the accelerator in rally races. Not surprisingly, that mythical vehicle stars today in his profile image on his social networks.
