A truce is reportedly being agreed upon in a dispute between easyJet PLC (LSE:EZJ) founder and major shareholder Stelios Haji-Ioannou and the British airline's management over the purchase of 56 new Airbus Group (EPA:AIR) aircraft.
Since founding easyJet in 1995, Haji-Ioannou has clashed several times with management, though he left the board in 2010 and his family's stake fell below 16% last year.
In a shareholder meeting on Wednesday, the low-cost airline’s biggest shareholder is reportedly planning to vote in favour of a multi-billion dollar order for Airbus planes, the FT reported.
The deal is valued at US$6.5bn based on list prices, but easyJet said it had obtained a "substantial reduction" on the figure.
A vote of support would follow years of bitter conflict between Haji-Ioannou and other board members at his company.
EasyJet announced last month that it would buy 56 Airbus A320neo planes and convert a prior order into 18 new A321neo planes, fulfilling options in a 2013 agreement with the European planemaker.
The Covid-19 pandemic had put easyJet's finances under severe strain, and easyJet and Airbus agreed to defer some aircraft deliveries under the 2013 agreement.
As the pandemic raged, Haji-Ioannou refused to approve the aircraft investment and called for the removal of chief executive Johan Lundgren and chairman John Barton for not doing more to prevent the airline burning “a shed load of cash”.
Ahead of the vote, easyJet's board said the order would replace older and more expensive aircraft while keeping the airline's scale at a time when Airbus delivery slots are becoming scarcer.
As well as being 25% more fuel-efficient, the new aircraft will help cut easyJet's costs and reduce its carbon footprint.