Flying high with full force of change

Chinamarket will givethe entire global travel industry new impetus for future growth, says IAG's chief executive

At 55, Irishman Willie Walsh can take some satisfaction over a career that began when he joined Irish state airline Aer Lingus as a trainee pilot straight out of high school at the tender age of 17.

He qualified as a Boeing 737 captain and now, 38 years later, he's reached the exalted position of chief executive of the International Airlines Group, which consists of British Airways, Spain's flag-carrier Iberia, and his first employer, Aer Lingus, which he brought into the IAG fold after the group won a takeover battle last September.