BA chief Walsh to head merged BA-Iberia airline
28 Oct 2010
British Airways Plc (BA) chief executive officer Willie Walsh, is to take charge of the expanded airline created by BA's merger with Spain's Iberia. The 49- year old, Walsh is expected to report the UK carrier's first profit in two years.
According to analysts the carrier's net income may touch £158.6 million in the three months ended 30 September as against a year-earlier loss.
The London-based carrier last posted a profit in August 2008, just ahead of the collapse of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc that triggered a premium-class travel slump.
Meanwhile, both Air France-KLM Group and Deutshe Lufthansa AG have raised their forecasts, helped by a traffic rebound.
Walsh is using an alliance on trans-Atlantic flights with AMR Corp's American Airlines to take on the carrier's biggest European rivals.
Six months back the carrier suffered a series of cabin-crew strikes and the closure of European air space due a cloud of volcanic ash.
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