Turkish Airlines appointed Bilal Eksi as the new general manager replacing chief executive officer Temel Kotil. Kotil, who was also the Turkish Airlines Group general manager and vice chairman of the executive board, stepped down from his post on October 21. He earlier worked as the chief ground operations officer at Turkish Airlines for two years where he did a commendable job carrying out projects particularly in improvement of the on-time departure performance.

Eksi became the head of Overhaul Workshops at Turkish Airlines in 2003, where he led a significant organisation carrying out the maintenance of aircraft engines, landing gears and all components. He then served as the chief production officer at Turkish Airlines between 2008 to 2009, and as the general manager of Cyprus Turkish Airlines as part of the reorganisation of Cyprus Turkish Airlines between 2009 to 2010. He was also the assistant general manager at Turkish Engine Center between 2010 to 2011.