In August 2026, Czech Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová appointed Radomír Lašák as the new CEO of the Czech Republic’s largest airport, replacing Jiří Pos. However, his appointment is surrounded with a significant controversy. It triggered a strike alert from five trade union groups representing employees at Prague Airport and Czech Airlines Handling, causing widespread uproar in the aviation community. Following these alerts, Alena Schillerová appointed Radomír Lašák a month earlier than planned.
Who is Radomír Lašák?
Radomír Lašák, an experienced executive, started his career in 1991 at Komerční Banka. Later, he became CEO of eBanka before joining a management team of the Czech energy conglomerate ČEZ.
In January 2006, after the years in corporate sector, he was appointed president and chairman of the board of Czech Airlines, replacing Jaroslav Tvrdík. Prior joining Czech Airlines, Lašák had no previous experience in aviation, something, he publicly framed as his major strength that allowed him an unbiased perspective for driving restructuring cuts.
However, his four-years long journey leading the national carrier was marked with a massive controversy. His restructuring strategy centered on the aggressive selling of key assets and subsidiaries. This includes five Boeing 737 aircraft (that were subsequently leased back), highly profitable ČSA Catering and Czech Airlines Duty Free, and also the airline’s headquarters building, which was also immediately leased back, adding high rental expenses.
These accounting transactions enabled Czech Airlines to report an optical net profit of around 500 million CZK (about 25 million USD) during the years 2007 and 2008, despite the airline still being in the massive operational loss. When the financial crisis hit and the company ran out of sellable assets, his strategy collapsed which led to the company posting a record net loss of 3.7 billion CZK (about 170 million USD), requiring an emergency 2.5 billion CZK (about 120 million USD) loan to avoid bankruptcy, and resulted in around 800 people, including Lašák, losing their job.
After Lašák’s departure, the airline never recovered from his wrongdoings. Up to this day, Radomír Lašák, together with previous CEO Jaroslav Tvrdík, is connected to the merge of Czech Airlines into Smartwings in late 2024.
In March 2015, he acquired an 80% stake in Zlatý Kříž, a historic Prague delicatessen. Under his management and ownership, the company fell into severe financial distress, entering liquidation and insolvency in January 2024.
Selection process
In May 2026, the Ministry of Finance, the sole shareholder of Prague Airport, initiated a selection tender for a new CEO. Under the leadership of the former CEO Jiří Pos, Prague Airport successfully navigated the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic, achieving net profits nearing 3 billion CZK (about 150 million USD) in 2025. Many people are surprised by this change, as critics are questioning why a successful manager who spent his whole work life in the aviation industry was replaced by someone whose only past experience in the industry ended with the collapse of one of the oldest airlines in the world.
The transparency of this tender process has also come under scrutiny. The Ministry of Finance has chosen not to release most documents related to the process. According to DeníkN, the committee tasked with choosing the new CEO consisted of four members, with only one of them having any experience from aviation industry. Similarly, their sources indicate that Radomír Lašák was not even listed among the top three candidates. It also seems that the Czech prime minister’s support for Lašák was a key factor in the board’s decision to choose him.
“Your information is inaccurate. The board makes decisions as a whole; the most successful candidate was selected by a majority vote,”
stated Michal Žurovec, the ministry’s communications director, addressing any implications regarding Andrej Babiš’s involvement in this selection process.
Radomír Lašák, Prague Airport, and Minister of Finance Alena Schillerová declined to respond to our questions through email. During the preparation of this article, we also approached Prime Minister Andrej Babiš at one of his meetups with supporters.
“If someone has saved Prague Airport, it was me in 2014 as a Minister of Finance when they [not specified who, editor’s note] were stealing from there. Someone also sold the state-owned property to someone to get 4 billion CZK from the airport. About Mr. Lašák, he was picked in the selection process; it went directly around me. Yes, the media are talking badly about Mr. Lašák; … he’s on probation. If Mrs. Schillerová won’t be happy with him, they can fire him. I have asked Mrs. Schillerová about him, and the selection process was normal,”
said Babiš after being confronted with the findings mentioned in this article.
We also asked for the perspective of opposition leader Vít Rakušan regarding the situation.
“Mr. Lašák is a person who already failed once as a manager and who failed in the selection process. I don’t understand why Mrs. Schillerová refuses to release documents related to his selection.”
Current situation at the airport
Upon assuming the role of CEO, Lašák swiftly dismissed several key managers, instilling fear among the remaining airport staff regarding their job security. This move echoed the earlier termination of approximately 800 employees during his tenure at Czech Airlines causing ive trade union groups representing employees to trigger a strike alert. Since taking on the role in August, Radomír Lašák has only been seen in public once.
The outlook for Prague Airport has become increasingly unclear. This development arises amidst ongoing efforts to construct a new parallel runway and expand Terminal 2, raising questions about the airport’s strategic direction during a critical phase of growth.
