IndiGo names Willie Walsh as CEO: List of foreign chiefs at Indian airlines

IndiGo names Willie Walsh as CEO, adding to a growing list of foreign executives leading Indian airlines, including Air India, amid the expansion of global operations and networks

India’s largest airline, IndiGo, on Tuesday announced Willie Walsh as its next Chief Executive Officer (CEO), marking another high-profile foreign appointment in the country’s aviation sector.

 

Walsh, who is currently Director General of the International Air Transport Association (IATA), will step down from his role by July 31. He is expected to take charge at IndiGo in early August. He previously served as chief of British Airways and later led International Airlines Group (IAG), which owns airlines such as Aer Lingus, Iberia, Vueling, and Level.

 

His appointment adds to a growing list of foreign executives leading Indian carriers. At Air India, Campbell Wilson, a New Zealand national and former Singapore Airlines executive, has been at the helm since 2022. IndiGo itself had in 2022 brought in a Dutch airline executive, Pieter Elbers, to lead the airline. Elbers served as the chief of the Netherlands' flag carrier airline, KLM. He resigned earlier this month due to personal reasons. 

   

Here's a list of foreigners who are currently serving, or have previously served as the CEOs of Indian airlines. 

• Willie Walsh (Irish): Incoming CEO of IndiGo, former CEO of British Airways 
• Pieter Elbers (Dutch): Former CEO of IndiGo and KLM
• Campbell Wilson (New Zealand): CEO & MD of Air India, former CEO of Scoot
• Wolfgang Prock-Schauer (Austrian): Former CEO of Jet Airways, GoAir and Air Berlin
• Nikos Kardassis (Greek-American): Former CEO of Jet Airways and the Bank of New York Mellon
• Cornelis Vrieswijk (Dutch): Former CEO of GoAir, former senior executive at Thomas Cook Group, EasyJet and Transavia
• Phee Teik Yeoh (Singaporean): Former CEO of Vistara, currently senior vice president at Singapore Airlines

Why private Indian airlines turn to foreign CEOs

As India opened up its economy in the 1990s and repealed the Air Corporations Act, private airlines began entering the market. However, the country lacked enough senior executives with experience to lead them, according to a report by the Financial Express.

 

The report cited Narayan Hariharan, former head of human resources at Jet Airways, who said expatriate leaders bring global networks and enhance credibility with international organisations such as the International Civil Aviation Organisation and the IATA. He added that Indian airlines have also failed to build leadership pipelines. 

 

However, it's not just an India-specific problem. It also referenced research by management consulting firm Egon Zehnder, which noted that airlines worldwide face a shortage of leadership talent. Narrow, siloed internal talent pools frequently leave few candidates fully equipped to manage the complexities of the CEO role.