BA directors resign as pressure mounts on Walsh over T5 fiasco

BRITISH Airways chief executive Willie Walsh came under increased pressure yesterday following the resignation of two executives at the airline.

BA said the departure of its director of operations, Gareth Kirkwood, and director of customer services, David Noyes, follows the opening of Heathrow’s Terminal 5.

BA declined to say whether the two had chosen to go or were asked to leave.

Former Aer Lingus chief Walsh has taken responsibility for the problems at the £4.3bn (€5.3bn) terminal, saying that its opening was not the company’s finest hour.

BA shareholders are set to meet management this week to discuss the problems at the new terminal.

Yesterday, director at air transport consultancy JLS, John Strickland, said there seemed to be “a lack of communication about the problems involved in the run-up to the opening of the new terminal” but added that he did not believe Mr Walsh should step down.

He added however that there is a feeling at BA that some of the managers did not fully communicate problems during the planning process of T5.

“I don’t think this takes the pressure off Walsh. He will know that people are still expecting him to deliver,” he said.

He said Walsh had a strong track record and that BA needed continuity of management to pilot it through a period of strike threats, high fuel costs and increasing competition on the lucrative transatlantic route.

Terminal 5’s opening on March 27 sparked the cancellation of more than 600 flights over 12 days as the baggage system broke down.

The disruption cost at least €20 million, according to BA. Terminal 5 took almost 20 years to plan and build.