‘The idea that BA isn’t what it used to be is wrong’
Willie Walsh tells Oliver Gill that his years of cost cutting at the airline have left it in good shape
Willie Walsh has criticised the “sentimentality” about British Airways’ past as he reveals no regrets over his radical cost-cutting regime during a 15-year term leading the airline.
The 61-year-old, still one of the world’s most influential aviation executives, says he would repeat the controversial policies that earned him the moniker “Slasher Walsh”.
“I did the job that I was required to do and I’d do it again, without any question,” he claims.
“British Airways is in business today because of the measures that were taken to secure its financial performance.
“Had we not done so, British Airways would have gone into this crisis in a weak financial position. The question is, would it have survived?”
Asked if there was anything he would have done differently, he responds: “Absolutely not, I’m very proud of what BA and IAG achieved in the period of my tenure there.”
British Airways laid claim to being “the world’s favourite airline” in advertising between 1984 and 2001.
But critics have argued that Walsh, who ran BA between 2005 and 2011 before being promoted as chief executive of parent company IAG until late 2020, presided over a cost-cutting regime that led to the flag carrier plunging down service rankings.
In recent years, customers have complained that BA has been overtaken by deep-pocketed rivals from the Middle East such as Qatar Airways and Emirates.
Meanwhile, they have suffered amid hours-long queues on customer services phone lines and embarrassing IT glitches – which led to personal data being leaked to hackers in one instance, and repeatedly grounded flights in others.
On-board meals were scrapped in 2016 for short-haul flights, only for the current BA chief executive Sean Doyle to partially row back on the policy earlier this year.
BA was ranked in 11th place in the 2022 Skytrax World Airline Awards.
“BA is a very good airline, from what I can see,” Walsh insists.
“It’s very well regarded. I think it’s done an excellent job steering its way through the crisis.
“Clearly there is more work to be done. But the idea that BA isn’t what it used to be [is wrong]. There is some degree of sentimentality about what the past used to look like.”
Since stepping down in late 2020, Walsh has taken over as directorgeneral of the International Air Transport Association ( IATA) trade body. Representing almost every major global airline gives him even more licence to hold airports, and in particular Heathrow, to account over its recent performance and the thorny topic of airport charges.
John Holland-Kaye, Heathrow’s chief executive, has said the operational problems that blighted the airport for much of 2022 have largely been overcome – though he is now facing the fallout from crippling strikes by Border Force officials.
Walsh cites his own analysis of Heathrow figures. “That’s a very poor operational performance,” he says. “They can’t argue that they’ve got everything sorted based on those statistics. They’re terrible. There’s no excuse for this to continue.
“And if we do face these problems next year, heads should definitely roll.
“Whatever defence they have, that they were caught out by the pace of the recovery [from the Covid pandemic] – which I don’t accept – they don’t have that defence anymore.”
“I’m not saying John Holland-Kaye should lose his job,” adds Walsh. “But what I’m saying is, people should not have sympathy for John Holland-Kaye.
“And people should not believe what John Holland-Kaye says.
“When he says that the problem was the airlines, it clearly wasn’t. The problem was the airport. And all of these efforts to deflect attention away from their abysmal performance should be called out.”
‘I’m very proud of what BA and IAG achieved in the period of my tenure there’
As head of the IATA, Walsh is left in the position of representing, among others, Virgin Atlantic.
During his time leading BA and IAG, Walsh repeatedly clashed with Virgin Atlantic’s founder, Sir Richard Branson. The billionaire’s war with BA pre-dated Walsh to the “dirty tricks” campaign during the 1990s.
In 2012 Sir Richard bet Walsh £1m that his airline would still be in existence in five years’ time.
Walsh, meanwhile, bet Sir Richard a “knee in the groin” that the Virgin Atlantic name would disappear within several years of Delta buying a 49pc stake.
Sir Richard, however, told The Telegraph last month that Virgin Atlantic is for the first time ahead of its bitter rival.
“[We can] be better than them, which we haven’t really ever been able to do in the past.
“Interestingly, we’ve got a lot of BA staff that are trying to get jobs with Virgin. I was on the cruise yesterday, and there was a girl who just joined Virgin from BA. And that’s a good sign.”
Walsh says he has to separate the majority owner of Virgin Atlantic from the airline itself.
“My criticism of Richard Branson has nothing to do [with Virgin Atlantic]. That’s criticism of the individual,” he says.
He goes on to praise Shai Weiss, chief executive officer of Virgin Atlantic. “Shai is excellent. I think he’s done a good job,” he says. “I’ve been involved with him in the engagement on Heathrow charges.”
At a conference last month Weiss withdrew his support for Heathrow’s third runway amid a row over airport charges.
He said that until regulators reform “the abuse of power by a de facto monopolistic airport”, he would not back expansion.
Walsh says: “The comments that he’s made about costs at Heathrow and expansion at Heathrow, I agree with 100pc.
“I’ve been very clear, you know: they’ve gone through a very challenging time, they’ve restructured, they’ve had to recapitalise the business. But my views on individuals haven’t changed.”
Filmmaker HBO has recently aired a documentary series on Sky about Sir Richard’s life and his maiden space voyage with Virgin Galactic.
Has Walsh seen the series? “I didn’t know there was one,” he says.