Malaysia Airlines’ head of marketing Charles McKee is leaving the company less than a year after joining as the airline undergoes a leadership restructure.

McKee replaced chief marketing officer Dean Dacko in September of last year and is now set to leave the company this month, according to Mumbrella.

His departure has been revealed shortly after the troubled airliner announced it has promoted chief operating officer Peter Bellew to chief executive officer after Christoph Mueller stepped down.

The company is currently in turmoil after the disappearance of MH370 as it flew between Kuala Lumpur and Beijing and the shooting down of MH17 over Ukraine.

Bellew was previously the head of sales and marketing at Ryanair, where he introduced new customer service initiatives, pan-European TV advertising, and improved press relations, helping to deliver record sales.

On his promotion to chief executive Bellew said: “The goal will be to fly customers safely to places they want to go with great value fares and superior service on clean modern aircraft.

“We will stop doing things that lose money. We will rebuild our relationships with the travel trade globally. We will lead a worldwide marketing initiative promoting the wonders of Malaysia.”

The company is also developing a new website, mobile app, trade reservations system and airport equipment, which are due to launch in the next year.

Malaysia Airlines has not yet responded to request for comment regarding McKee’s departure.

McKee’s previous roles included senior marketing and commercial positions at Delta Hotels, the Canadian Tourism Commission, Air Canada, Lastminute.com and Virgin Atlantic.

During his time at Malaysia Airlines the company moved its global media business to GroupM from IPG Mediabrands.