WILLIE WALSH CHIEF EXECUTIVE, IAG POTENTIALLY PRE-OCCUPIED through 2013 with plans for a root-and-branch restructuring of Spanish flag-carrier Iberia, Willie Walsh nevertheless attracted a plethora of nominations as one of corporate travel’s key opinion-formers. As well as dealing with the almost- inevitable confrontations that will arise from shedding 4,500 jobs to turn around British Airways’ sister airline, Walsh’s to-do list includes expanding the International Airline Group’s (IAG) portfolio and forging ever-closer relationships with long-time partner American Airlines. Although IAG remains, in global
terms, something of a bit-part player, the business model concept it represents – joint ownership sans frontières – makes it, along with the Lufthansa Group, a world leader. In that sense, industrial relations challenges in Madrid and capacity constraints in London are mere sideshows; the main attraction in 2013 will centre on Walsh’s ability to take IAG to the next level. Most observers believe American is already waiting in the wings for its cue to come centre-stage – bringing an Asian carrier into the act could be a show-stopper. The man himself is something of a novelty in 21st-century aviation, in that he is not, and has never been, an accountant. A former Aer Lingus cadet pilot, he worked his way through the ranks, becoming chief executive in 2001. He was appointed chief executive of BA in 2005, and this month celebrates only his second anniversary as head of IAG.
HEAD OF UK & IRELAND SALES AND MARKETING, BRITISH AIRWAYS IN A RECENT INTERVIEW with a networking outfit called The Sales Club, Richard Tams was asked how British Airways could drive future sales. The response was telling. “My vision is to broaden the scope of our product and make a better revenue contribution to the business by cross- selling other products alongside flights, particularly through ba.com,” he said. “We need to act more as a ‘travel retailer’ than a ‘flight retailer’, selling to the consumer with a lot more precision, in the way Amazon or Tesco do, by using database knowledge more creatively to put together offers appropriate to you as an individual.” He also said: “In the business travel market, there is an increased threat of commoditisation, with many customers focused almost exclusively on price in their discussions with us. “We don’t go into a corporate and come
away with a sales order. We go in and come away with a ‘deal’ that is based on approximations of what that corporate intends to buy that year. Unlike most sales deals, there is no risk for the buyer – we take all the risk.”
As softly spoken as his fellow Irishman Michael O’Leary is loud, Walsh appears quietly confident and comfortable in the corridors of power in Whitehall, Westminster and elsewhere. In 2013, his influence will extend way beyond the little local difficulty that is Iberia.
TOM HORTON CHIEF EXECUTIVE, AMERICAN AIRLINES BA’S RICHARD TAMS was among those who named American Airlines’ supremo as one of the business travel world’s key opinion formers – and not just because of the close relationship between the two Oneworld alliance partners. Horton joined AMR in 1985, left in 2002 to join AT&T, and rejoined in 2006 as executive vice-president. Four years later, he became the company’s president, and 18 months after that, he succeeded Gerald Arpey as chief executive officer – on the day that American collapsed into Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection. When the carrier does emerge, Horton promises it will be as “an industry leader”, putting its chief executive in a position of real power and influence.
Edgy stuff, but Tams still wields considerable influence, as testified by Astra Zeneca’s global commercial lead for business travel management, Caroline Strachan. “Whatever strategies he agrees, be they financial or operational, greatly impact and support managed travel in the UK and overseas,” she says.