IAG shareholders back $3.3bln rights issue as Walsh steps down

IAG shareholders back $3.3bln rights issue as Walsh steps down

LONDON- Shareholders backed IAG's plan to raise 2.75 billion euros ($3.25 billion) in equity at a virtual meeting on Tuesday that saw the airline group's long-time CEO Willie Walsh hand over to insider Luis Gallego.Walsh had delayed his March departure from the company he created in 2011 by merging British Airways and Iberia to help navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.The format of the annual general meeting, with chairman Antonio Vazquez in Madrid, Walsh in London and shareholders watching online, underlined how much has changed."It is the worst crisis we have ever faced, far worse than both 9/11 and the financial crash in 2008," Walsh said."We are having to re-calibrate everything we do as we anticipate that it will take until at least 2023 or 2024 for passenger demand to recover to