IndiGo shares jump as airline appoints William Walsh as new CEO
Indigo is one of the few airlines to reroute and cancel flights to avoid Pakistani airspace.
Nicolas Economo |NurPhoto | Getty Images
Shares of InterGlobe Aviation, which operates India’s largest airline IndiGo, rose more than 9% on Wednesday, a day after it appointed industry veteran William Walsh as its new CEO.
Walsh, 64, is currently chief executive of the International Air Transport Association and will join the Indian airline in early August. Walsh served as CEO of British Airways.
His appointment comes weeks after Pieter Elbers abruptly resigned as IndiGo’s top boss following a probe into the carrier’s failure to properly plan pilot rest and duty rules in December, which led to thousands of flight cancellations. Elbers left the company last month, citing “personal reasons.”
Indian airlines were particularly affected by airspace disruptions caused by the conflict in the Middle East.
On March 18, Moody’s-backed Indian rating agency ICRA assigned IndiGo’s long-term credit rating to “On Watch with Adverse Effects”.expected pressure on the airline’s operating and financial performance “It stems from the escalation of geopolitical conflict in West Asia.”
indigo commands While it accounts for around 65% of India’s aviation market share, Air India is a distant second at around 27%, according to data from the country’s aviation regulator.
Walsh’s role in “managing and managing large-scale airline operations” navigating complex market dynamics It makes him ideally suited to strengthen IndiGo and lead continued growth,” IndiGo chairman Vikram Singh Mehta said in an exchange filing on Tuesday.
Walsh also served as CEO of IAG, the parent company of British Airways, Iberia, Vueling, Aer Lingus, LEVEL, IAG Loyalty and IAG Cargo.
