British Airways saved by pre-pandemic cost-cutting, says Walsh

Willie Walsh, BA’s ex-CE, said he had no regrets about making drastic cuts at the airline, which earned him the nickname Slasher Walsh. Walsh, now CE of Iata, told The Telegraph: “British Airways is in business today because of the measures that were taken to secure its financial performance.” He said there was nothing he would have done differently despite accusations service levels had dropped. However, Walsh admitted Virgin Atlantic was now attracting many BA staff to switch allegiances. Walsh has been a fierce critic of Heathrow, arguing it should have reinstated more staff to avoid the queues and capacity restrictions seen this summer. He said “heads should definitely roll” if there were similar problems next year.<br/>