British Airways has appointed an international head of
communications and doubled the size of its media relations team with the
appointment of six new media managers.
International head Louise Tingstrom joins BA at the end of this month
from Visa International, where she is senior vice-president,
communications.
She will oversee the firm’s PR outside the UK, and is likely to look at
streamlining the firm’s agencies or appointing a lead agency in a bid to
maximise coordination.
BA has PR staff in New York, Toronto, New Delhi, Frankfurt and Paris and
60 agencies worldwide, all reporting to Tingstrom.
Her job was previously handled by David Budgen, head of BA’s commercial
PR unit, who will return to his core function.
Based in London, Tingstrom will report to communications director Simon
Walker and will work alongside external communications head Nick
Claydon, internal communications head Lindsay Eynon and Andrea Matthews,
who is responsible for communicating BA’s alliances with other airlines.
Claydon joined BA from Brunswick this month while Eynon started last
month and was previously at MCA.
BA’s new media managers who join this month are: Beverly Coates, from
the Metropolitan Police; Louise Evans, from charity Shelter; Jemma
Moore, who is at Cathay Pacific and Camilla Wrey, who joins from the
Saltmarsh Partnership. Two more managers, joining next month, have yet
to be announced.
