Kenny Jacobs, the Chief Executive Officer of DAA, confirmed on Wednesday to an Oireachtas Committee that he owns stock in 12 airlines that use Dublin Airport. This was in response to questions from Duncan Smith, Labour Party’s transport representative, regarding Jacobs’ past tenure as the Chief Marketing Officer for Ryanair.
Ryanair, along with other publicly traded companies, prefers to compensate its senior executives with shares. When Smith inquired about Jacobs’ Ryanair stock, Jacobs clarified that his investments spread across 12 airlines including Ryanair.
Jacobs denied any potential conflict of interest, referring to the fact that his investments spanned 12 distinct airlines, all of which are customers of Dublin Airport, and that he has always been an airline industry investor.
Although Dublin Airport hosts more than 40 airlines, when asked about other airlines in which Jacobs invested, a spokesperson declined to detail the other shares Jacobs held. However, he noted that an annual declaration of Jacobs’ shareholdings is submitted to the Standards in Public Office Commission.
In June 2020, Jacobs resigned from his role as the Chief Marketing Officer of Ryanair. No information about his shareholdings at departure time is included in the annual reports. In November 2022, Jacobs was named CEO of DAA and formally started in January 2023, succeeding Dalton Philips. He is currently 18 months into his seven-year term.
DAA, the state-owned operator of Dublin and Cork airports, states in its annual report that DAA directors, as per section 34 of the 1998 Act and the corresponding code of practice, are obliged to disclose any relevant interest they have and must not partake in board discussions where they have a direct or indirect interest.