February 17, 2011
By Staff Reporter
“Many commentators have rightly said that Rod Eddington will be a hard act to follow, but I am completely confident that in Willie we have captured the very best person for the job,” B.A. chairman Martin Broughton said.
Walsh, a 43-year-old from Drumcondra on Dublin’s north side, left Aer Lingus in contentious circumstances in January. He and two other executives had announced their resignations in November, after their proposal for a management buyout of the airline failed. They had, however, agreed to stay on for six months to ensure an orderly transition to a new management team.
The plan hit the skids when press reports indicated that Walsh and his two departing colleagues were developing plans to launch another airline that would specialize in low-cost trans-Atlantic flights, and that would, therefore, be in direct competition with Aer Lingus.
Critics claimed there was an obvious conflict of interest in the trio remaining in their posts. Walsh departed at the end of January, though he insisted that he was not being rushed out.
It was a rather ignominious end to what most people regarded as a highly successful stint at the head of Ireland’s national airline. When Walsh took over as CEO, Aer Lingus was in dire straits. In the wake of Sept. 11, there were genuine fears about whether the airline would survive.
Walsh took immediate cost-cutting action. Losses for 2001 were kept to