Turkish Airlines names Bilal Ekşi as new chief

ISTANBUL

Turkish Airlines has appointed Bilal Ekşi, the head of Turkey’s civil aviation authority, as its new general manager. Ekşi will replace Temel Kotil, who has been in the post since 2005.

“Our incorporation’s General Manager, Assoc. Prof. Dr. Temel Kotil, retired as of Oct. 21 and Bilal Ekşi has been appointed as the General Manager of Turkish Airlines Inc.,” said the company in a statement to the Public Disclosure Platform (KAP) late Oct. 21. 

Ekşi is an engineer who held senior positions at the airline before moving to the civil aviation authority in 2011.
Kotil, an aeronautical engineer who had been in charge of the airline since 2005, quit after agreeing to take on a new role as head of the Turkish Aerospace Industries (TAI).

Defense industry sources told the Hürriyet Daily News that Kotil’s appointment would speed up some of Turkey’s slowly progressing aerospace programs including ambitions to design, develop and build the country’s first locally-built fighter jet program, dubbed TFX.

“Kotil will refresh the TAI’s programs not just in aerial platforms but also in the company’s satellite ambitions. We expect much from his tenure,” said one aviation industry executive.