British Airways could be spun off from parent company IAG amid efforts to make the business leaner in the wake of the Covid crisis, former boss Willie Walsh has said.
In a wide-ranging interview, Mr Walsh also hit out at the Government over its handling of the pandemic and said he would sue for peace following a war of words with Sir Richard Branson.
IAG is registered in Madrid and its top three board members are now all Spanish.
The company’s control of British Airways was repeatedly called into question in the run-up to Brexit over concerns it might fall foul of Brussels ownership rules.
Mr Walsh, who was chief executive of IAG until last year, said a spin-off of BA could not be ruled out.
He said: “There’s nothing to say that bits of IAG could not be sold off or cut loose.
“That was always my thinking when I was there. If one part of the business wasn’t performing, or was underperforming, or didn’t make sense, then you could dispose of that part of the business.
“I don’t think that will happen, but it could happen.”
Read on for our full interview with the airline industry veteran.
The prospect of Willie Walsh being at liberty to speak his mind is the stuff of nightmares for any public relations executive.
“I can say things, probably, more easily than I did when I was at BA or IAG,” Walsh says from his home in Geneva. His press officer, listening in to the video call, winces.
Walsh stepped down as IAG chief last September after 15 years leading British Airways and its FTSE 100 parent company. He admits to “feeling bad” for leaving in the middle of the worst storm ever to hit the aviation industry. And although he delayed his departure until later in the year, he knew there was no turning back.
“Had I known that everybody had known this was what was going to happen, I wouldn’t have announced my departure back in January 2020,” he says. “I’m really glad I stayed on for that extra five, six months.”
It is out of the…