Aer Lingus plan a recipe for disaster, says Walsh

GOVERNMENT policy to retain a 25% stake in Aer Lingus is a recipe for disaster, the company’s former chief executive Willie Walsh warned yesterday.

Mr Walsh, who is chief executive of British Airways, said: “A government owning a stake in an airline in which it is either unwilling or unable to invest is a recipe for disaster.”

Mr Walsh made the remarks when taking questions from the floor after addressing the Chambers of Commerce of Ireland (CCI) National Business Forum 2005 in the Rochestown Park Hotel, Cork.