Rod Eddington has been confirmed as the new chief executive of British Airways. He assumed the role on 1 May, taking over from BA chairman Lord Colin Marshall, who had occupied the chief executive position since Bob Ayling resigned on 10 March.
Eddington joins BA from Ansett Holdings, where he was executive chairman, as well as being deputy chair of Ansett's part-owner, News Corporation. His stint in charge of Ansett Australia, which ran from August 1997, followed 18 years at Cathay Pacific, where he took the helm as managing director in 1992.
Eddington will remain a non-executive director of News Corp, but will not join the board of Ansett rival Qantas - 25%-owned by BA - until next year, "to avoid confidentiality issues", BA says.
Air New Zealand (ANZ) and News Corp, joint owners of Ansett, have named Craig Wallace, executive general manager, commercial planning at Ansett Australia and general manager, Ansett International, as Eddington's successor, although a new executive team will be put in place once ANZ completes an agreed takeover of Ansett.
Source: Flight International
