Willie Walsh, the CE of the BA and Iberia owner, IAG, is to stand down from the post in March. He will be succeeded by Luis Gallego, the Iberia CE. IAG said Walsh, 58, would quit as CEO on 26 March and officially retire on 30 June. He announced in late October that he would step down within two years, after 15 years at BA. The parent group, IAG, also owns the Irish airline Aer Lingus and other budget carriers, including Spain’s Vueling. Walsh joined Aer Lingus in 1979 as a cadet pilot and became CE in 2001. At the then-government-controlled airline he was known as “Slasher” Walsh for cutting 2,500 jobs and turning the loss-making carrier around. Four years later he was named boss of BA and in 2011 led the merger of the airline with Spain’s Iberia to create IAG. He then became CE of the group. Although the merger was initially controversial with shareholders, IAG has become one of the most profitable airline groups around, reporting pre-tax annual profits of E3.2b last February and expecting to post similar results for 2019 despite losses from industrial action. Last year BA suffered one of the most damaging industrial disputes in its history, which included two days of strikes by pilots in September and the cancellation of 2,325 flights, which cost the carrier GBP121m. Pilots voted to settle the dispute over pay and conditions in mid-December.<br/>