On 12 July 2007 Lloyd Paxton was appointed CEO of MALÉV. Paxton replaced János Gönci, who remained on the board of directors as an adviser. Mr Paxton had been with British Airways for over 35 years and more recently with Air Astana. Mr Paxton was the first MALÉV CEO to come from the airline industry. Two months later, on 14 September 2007, Lloyd Paxton resigned as CEO of MALÉV, replaced by Péter Leonov. In January 2009, Ballo Anatoly Borisovich became the chairman.