Airline chairman to step down

easyJet chairman Sir Mike Rake is to step down from his post following three years of public disagreement with company founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou.

Rake, who has survived numerous attempts by Stelios to oust him, said he would leave in the summer.

Sources close to Stelios cited in The Guardian said he had been preparing to demand Rake's resignation at the company's forthcoming AGM.

Stelios has previously attacked Rake's handling of multi-million executive bonuses and proposals to order new aircraft.

Last summer he accused Rake of failing to investigate the Libor rigging scandal at Barclays, where he was a senior independent director and is now deputy chairman.