8th Mar 2005 12:05
British Airways PLC08 March 2005 WILLIE WALSH TO BE APPOINTED CHIEF EXECUTIVE British Airways today announced the appointment of Willie Walsh as its new chiefexecutive officer. Mr Walsh, previously CEO of Aer Lingus, begins as chief executive designate onMay 3. Rod Eddington will retire at the end of September at which stage MrWalsh will become chief executive. Martin Broughton, the airline's chairman, said: "Willie has an outstandingreputation in the airline industry around the world for the way in which hetransformed the fortunes of Aer Lingus from a high-cost underperforming carrierinto a successful and profitable entity. "Many commentators have rightly said that Rod Eddington will be a hard act tofollow but I am completely confident that in Willie we have captured the verybest person for the job. "Rod has performed miracles at British Airways and he will leave us with thebest wishes of the board, the workforce and our shareholders. Rod hastransformed our business beyond recognition through his determined focus todrive out costs whilst ensuring the airline never loses sight of the higheststandards of customer service. "Following the tragedies of 9/11 many commentators expected Aer Lingus to followairlines such as Swissair and Sabena into oblivion but Willie salvaged the Irishcarrier and saved thousands of jobs. "Willie was determined that Aer Lingus had to provide what its customersdemanded and that was a low price for an air ticket. At British Airways he willfocus his efforts and energies on what our customer base demands which arequality service and value for money." Rod Eddington said: "I am delighted that Willie has agreed to join BritishAirways and replace me as CEO and I look forward to working with him during ourhandover." Willie Walsh said: "This is an outstanding opportunity to be at the helm of whatmany people see as the best airline in the world and I'm very excited at theprospect of joining the team." Irish-born Willie Walsh, 43, joined Aer Lingus as a 17 year old cadet pilot in1979 and worked through the ranks to become a captain in 1990. He was appointed as CEO of Futura, Aer Lingus' charter airline in Spain in 1998. Willie returned to Dublin as Aer Lingus' chief operating officer in 2000 andbecame CEO in the aftermath of 9/11. Married with one nine year old daughter, Willie has an MSc in management andbusiness administration from Trinity College, Dublin which he undertook whilstworking as a pilot for Aer Lingus. ends March 8, 2005 018/IB/05 This information is provided by RNS The company news service from the London Stock ExchangeRelated Shares:
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