Former IAG CEO Willie Walsh returns to chair IATA

Former IAG CEO Willie Walsh has been nominated to succeed the Director General of the International Air Transport Agency (IATA), Alexandre de Juniac. According to the agency, the French executive had already announced that he would leave office at the end of March.

From Juniac He was President of Air France-KLM and has led IATA since 2016. His resignation marks the return of Walsh to the first line of command of the aviation. The manager left IAG in September, when he was replaced by Luis Gallego as CEO.

Juniac’s departure, and Walsh’s relief, occurs in the midst of the catharsis of the air sector, that it is experiencing the worst moment in its history and that it will undergo irreversible changes as a consequence of this crisis and the restrictions on mobility that have had a strong impact on the companies’ activity.

As Juniac himself recognized in an interview with this newspaper, there will be concentrations, many airlines will go bankrupt, supply will be reduced and millions of jobs will be destroyed.

Relief

“I have not made this decision lightly. It has been the privilege of a lifetime to serve the global air transport industry, what I call the freedom business, as director of IATA, “said Juniac, who assures that” the basic components for the recovery of the industry are in place. It is the right time to hand over IATA leadership for the long recovery process. ”

The executive made his decision known several months ago, which has allowed IATA to initiate “a search process to facilitate a smooth leadership transition,” he said in a statement.

The IATA Board of Governors will recommend the appointment of Willie Walsh to take office as of April 1. He would become the eighth CEO of the organization.

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