Willie Walsh set to be appointed head of Iata

Willie Walsh is to become the next head of the IATA, a position which will see the former British Airways CE lead the industry’s response to the pandemic. Walsh will be proposed as the next director-general at IATA’s annual meeting on Tuesday, and is expected to take over from Alexandre de Juniac in April next year, the group said. Iata has led the global airline industry’s reaction to the coronavirus crisis, including lobbying governments for financial support in the early stages of the pandemic. More recently it has called for the introduction of a co-ordinated global testing regime to lift the blanket quarantine bans that have stifled the industry. Walsh stepped down as CE of BA owner International Airlines Group after 15 years in September. Walsh will take the helm at Iata around a year after the rapid spread of Covid-19 sent the aviation industry into an unprecedented crisis. Airlines around the world are on course to lose about $80b this year, but the prospect of a vaccine means the Irishman could become the public face of the industry’s recovery. “The building blocks for an industry recovery are in place,” de Juniac said.<br/>