Promised moves to consolidate the aviation industry by new BA parent IAG is unlikely to happen within the next year, according to Willie Walsh, the carrier’s chief executive.
Speaking exclusively to Travel Weekly as he picked up the business achievement award at the annual travel industry Hall of Fame event on Monday night in London, Walsh said he expected to see a period of bedding in of the BA Iberia joint venture.
Asked how he saw the outlook for IAG for the next 12 month he said: “It’s probably not that exciting. We really want to bed it in and deliver on the targets we have set. I think there will be options for consolidation. Will that be within the next 12 months? More likely it’s going to be outside of that time frame.”
When the BA Iberia merger was announced Walsh said the firm had a shopping list of airlines it would be interested in buying, sparking widespread speculation about which were on the list.
Although IAG is not likely to turn away any good opportunities to acquire other airlines Walsh said there remained a lot of work to do within the business but that he was enjoying his new role although he expected a difficult period was in store for the aviation industry.
“It’s going to be very tough with fuel at $120 a barrel, that’s clearly going to put a strain on everybody,” he said.
And talking about his new role he added: “It’s been much more enjoyable than I thought. I loved what I did at BA, I loved the cut and thrust of the daily operation but it’s been good to think about the future and more strategic issues.”
Walsh said the new IAG board has brought together a “great combination” of Iberia and BA people and, although English is the chosen language to communicate in, he joked sometimes his colleagues from Spain forget he is fluent in Spanish and can understand what they are saying when they talk among themselves.
New BA chief Keith Williams, who is due to speak at this morning’s Abta Travel Matters half day conference, was now very much the man in charge at BA, Walsh said.
“Clearly I have an interest in it, but I have learned from experience that when you move on from one role to another you have to stand back and let the person you appoint do the job.”