Willie Walsh on Anderson & O'Leary

International Airlines Group CEO Willie Walsh commenting on Delta Air Lines CEO Richard Anderson (from earlier in November at the Boyd Group International Aviation Forecast Conference in Baltimore):

“I like Richard Anderson. I think he is a game changer … He’s in business to make money. We need people like Anderson to set the tone—I know Anderson is in business to make money and you don’t make money by going after market share. Anderson is talking about return on invested capital.”

And Walsh got some laughs from the Boyd crowd with an amusing take on fellow Irishman Michael O’Leary, CEO of Ryaniar:

“Michael’s a good friend of mine. I don’t believe anything he says, but the world is a better place with one Michael O’Leary. Two would be a disaster … He has a unique ability to abuse people and at the same time they love him … The guy deserves great credit for what he’s achieved … O’Leary has managed expectations like no one I’ve ever seen. Because the expectation on a Ryanair flight is you get nothing and people get exactly that. Managing the expectation of the customer is very important.”