Obituary: Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge

Lord Marshall of Knightsbridge, who has died aged 78, was the long-serving chief executive and chairman of British Airways.

His obituary in The Daily Telegraph said he was also president of the CBI, and held a clutch of other demanding boardroom appointments.

The obituary said: ‘A marketing and customer-care expert who learned his trade in the hire car business for Hertz and Avis, Marshall was a highly effective foil to Lord King of Wartnaby, the BA chairman appointed by Margaret Thatcher in 1981 to knock the underperforming and demoralised airline into shape for privatisation.

‘Staff numbers were slashed, the aircraft fleet was rationalised and profitability radically improved, while Marshall focused on transforming the airline’s image and its reputation with the travelling public.’

However, the Telegraph also pointed out some of the turbulence faced by BA, including the ‘dirty tricks’ campaign against Sir Richard Branson’s Virgin Atlantic, and the rise of low-cost airlines in Europe.

He was honoured by The British Travel Industry Hall of Fame in 1996.

The British Travel Industry Hall of Fame was created in 1995, to ‘honour excellence and outstanding achievement in those who have played a significant part in creating and developing the travel, hospitality and tourism industry’.

For more from Telegraph’s obituary, click here.