The CEO of Air Berlin (AB), Joachim Hunold has revealed that he is resigning from his post on Sept. 1 as the airline proceeds on a cost-cutting program, which includes decreasing of 7,500 flights this year reducing the capacity by more than 1 million seats, cutting the fleet by eight aircraft and cancelling the unprofitable routes.

They would also reduce the flight frequency and partially withdrawing from regional airports to concentrate on the Berlin, Düsseldorf, Palma de Mallorca and Vienna hubs and at the end of 2012, AB would decrease up to 2.2 million seats and 16,000 flights.

Hunold was with AB since 1991 and he would remain as a non-executive director and AB board member, Hartmut Mehdorn has been chosen for the post of CEO for some time. According to some source, it was reported that Hunold has been under pressure from the shareholders to show some better returns and the airline needs some restructuring.

The main pressure came from the AB’s largest shareholder, ESAS, which is the parent company of Pegasus. The company alone holds about 16.5% of the total shares.

“Nevertheless, the announcement of Hunold’s resignation came as a complete surprise for everyone. Difficulties within the board were likely one of the reasons for his move,” says an executive airline manager.