THE SHORT STORY: WILLIE WALSH TITLE: Chief executive
“The Brazilian CULTURE appears to be if you want to do BUSINESS with us you are going to have to come down and say HELLO. It is the same in India and in China”
International Airlines Group (IAG) BORN: 1961 NATIONALITY: Irish CAREER: Joined Aer Lingus as cadet
pilot in 1979, became CEO in 2001, appointed BA CEO in 2005, oversaw merger with Iberia to form new holding company IAG in January 2011
moving along quite nicely for us until 15 September with the collapse of Lehmans. That was a real trigger event so I suppose there is that general concern about how quickly conditions can change. “It will be interesting to watch events over the coming months,” he says, speaking before the release of IAG’s third quarter results in early November. As things have turned out, some airlines have hit turbulence while others have benefi ted from strong tail winds. Lufthansa, the German carrier, issued a profi ts warning in late September saying it would not meet investor expectations. By contrast, British low-cost airline easyJet raised its profi t guidance to investors, crediting strong business bookings and short-break leisure travellers for the performance. Despite the mixed picture, Walsh thinks the airline industry remains a pretty good barometer of which direction economies are heading in. He keeps a close eye on IAG’s
airfreight and business-travel volumes, particularly long haul. IAG business travel has remained robust and, while there have been some changes in the pattern of goods it freights around the world, the volume of cargo has remained the same. “There have been some shifts. China has been a little slower,” explains Walsh. “But if you look at our overall fi gures they are quite strong. Exports out of the US have
been strong, Latin America has been strong. Europe and the UK have been strong.” Walsh has come a long way since his arrival at BA in October 2005, having joined from Irish carrier Aer Lingus. Born in 1961, Walsh joined Aer Lingus in 1979 as a cadet pilot and worked his way up the ranks. At the time he had a reputation for being forthright and uncompromisingly direct, especially in his dealings with trade unions.
EXPLORING OPPORTUNITIES
He has taken a high-profi le role in BA’s negotiations with its unions, which have led, at least for now, to agreements on issues of pay, pensions and sick leave. Sitting in Sao Paulo, Walsh says building and maintaining personal relationships – whether with union leaders, IAG staff or international business partners – remains vital. Key, he says, is setting aside time to meet up, face-to-face.
“I was with the BA and Iberian team this morning and commented on the fact that the Brazilian culture appears to be ‘if you want to do business with us you are going to have to come down and say hello’,” he states. “It is the same in India and China; it is the same in quite a lot of emerging markets. “There is no question that with the economies in Asia, and here in Latin
America, both doing exceptionally well compared with some of the traditional economies that people used to look at, it is time to get out there and see if you can generate new business.
“That is what this trip with the London Chamber was all about, encouraging people to get out and explore opportunities in markets that might not have been looked at in the past.” He adds: “I spoke to the guys [from the trade mission] last night and there were mixed views. Some thought it had been a great success, others felt it was not for them but that they would not have known that if they had not got down here. “I think the value of a group is that people learn from one another. I think on balance I would say the trade mission was a good way to do it.”
Keeping small business owners happy is one thing; airline passengers are in a completely different league. Regular business fl yers in particular expect their loyalty to be recognised and demand that their favoured airline compete for their custom with the best in the world. One recent exchange on the popular
Flyer Talk forum, which has 360,000 members, neatly summed up the level of scrutiny that airlines like BA and Iberia are under. One customer, called ValueSeeker on the forum, wrote asking
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