Rod Eddington

Eddington replaced former BA CEO Bob Ayling on 2 May 2000. He removed many aspects of Ayling's corporate relaunch in early 2001: the unpopular ethnic-art tailfins were changed back to the traditional Union Jack tailfin. He steered the company in the aftermath of the 11 September 2001 attacks on New York City and Washington D.C. which proved disastrous for many other airlines.

The decision to permanently retire the British Airways Concorde in 2003 was made by Eddington, and his action remains highly controversial.[7] Eddington stood down as chief executive officer of British Airways on 30 September 2005, after more than five years in the position. He then returned to Australia to take up a position as the head of the Victorian Major Events Association, succeeding Steve Vizard. Eddington was replaced by Willie Walsh in October 2005 after he had followed a six-month shadow position.

In February 2006, Eddington was a non-executive board member of JPMorgan (Non-Executive Chairman For Australia And New Zealand); News Corporation (non-executive director of publicly-listed Delaware-based company); John Swire & Sons (H.K.) Ltd. (non-executive director); Rio Tinto Group (non-executive director of two publicly-listed companies in the group).

Eddington also served on the board of Allco Finance Group, where he was one of three non-executive directors to approve Allco's ill-fated acquisition of Rubicon Holdings.

As of 2018 he still served on the boards of News Corp and 21st Century Fox.[6] In April 2019 he joined the board of News Corp's Herald and Weekly Times in Victoria.[8]

Eddington was appointed to the board of Lion in March 2011, and appointed chair in March 2012. He joined the parent company's board (Kirin) in March 2020, and holds these positions as of December 2020.[9]

As of December 2020 Eddington was:

• chair of JP Morgan's Asia-Pacific Advisory Council;
• chair of Infrastructure Partnerships Australia;
• a member of the APEC Business Advisory Council; and
• President of the Australia Japan Business Cooperation Committee.

On 1 December 2006, Eddington published a UK government-sponsored report into the future of Britain's transport infrastructure. The Eddington Transport Study set out the case for action to improve road and rail networks, as a "crucial enabler of sustained productivity and competitiveness". The report's main conclusions were that Britain has transport networks that provide the right connections, in the right places, to support the journeys that matter to economic performance. But roads in particular were in serious danger of becoming so congested, the economy would suffer.

At the launch of the report Eddington told journalists and transport industry representatives introducing road pricing to encourage drivers to drive less was an "economic no-brainer". There was, he said "no attractive alternative". It would cut congestion by half by 2025, and bring benefits to the British economy totalling £28b.[10]

The report also called for a programme of improvements to existing road and rail networks, the expansion of key airports, and adoption of the general principle that travellers should pay for the external costs of the pollution and congestion their journeys cause.

Eddington has since delivered a report to the Victorian Government of Australia, the East West Link Needs Assessment report, which was met with mixed reactions. Economic commentators criticised the cost-benefit ratios of Eddington's proposals, which on Eddington's own analysis were marginal at best.[11]