Former Aer Lingus, British Airways and IAG chief executive Willie Walsh has branded Donald Trump’s US Presidential Election victory as a good thing for airlines and the aviation industry.
Mr Walsh is now head of global aviation industry representative group the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and said the association as well as him, personally, sees the Trump victory as being “a net positive” for the industry.
Mr Walsh was speaking on the sidelines of IATA’s Wings of Change Europe (WOCE) conference in Rome.
Mr Walsh pointed to Mr Trump’s first stint in the Oval Office, when he signed into law the CARES Act, which passed billions of dollars in aid to airlines and aviation companies.
“I think they [the aviation industry] see that as a recognition from President Trump of the importance of the industry in the United States,” Mr Walsh told online industry site Runway Girl Network at the conference.
IATA’s 330 members represent more than 30% of global air traffic. Mr Walsh said airlines expect Mr Trump to be less strict when it comes to regulation, and suggested the EU is currently guilty of over regulation.
