Alpha Airports Group, the UK's largest airline caterer, has made Robert Stephenson, the head of its in-flight meals business, redundant.
Stephenson, director of Alpha Flight Services, has left the group with immediate effect, and chief executive Kevin Abbott has taken over his responsibilities.
The Alpha Flight Services division provides more than 50 million meals a year to more than 100 airlines, operating from 59 airports on four continents.
At the same time, the in-flight retail business, which offers various concessions and wholesaling services to airlines, has been brought under the jurisdiction of Alpha's shopping outlets division.
Alpha, like other operators in the aviation industry, has been hard hit by the decline in long-haul travel and the corresponding fall in sales of in-flight meals since the 11 September terror attacks. In October it reported half-year operating profits down by 13%.
While the company was keen to stress that Stephenson's departure was purely about cost savings, the poor performance of the in-flight catering division could not have helped his position. His division was the worst performer at the interims, suffering falls of 13.6% in sales and 11.6% in meal volumes.
The move follows a decision three years ago to streamline the retail business, which operates 90 shopping outlets at 26 sites in the UK, USA and India as well as 20 restaurants and bars at UK airports.
Abbott said: "We have created a business model that is seen to be successful for our customers, our people and our shareholders. With this reorganisation we are adopting the same approaches for our flight services business."