Rod Eddington was appointed Chief Executive of British Airways on May 2, 2000.

In 2003, he was named as the airline industry's leading executive in the Airline Strategy Awards, as judged by his peers.

Born in 1950 in Perth, Western Australia, Rod was educated at the University of Western Australia and Oxford University (the 1974 Rhodes Scholar from Western Australia). He completed a D Phil in the Department of Engineering Science at Oxford, and then taught as research lecturer at Pembroke College, Oxford, in 1978-79.

In 1979 he joined The Swire Group and worked with Cathay Pacific Airways in Hong Kong, Korea and Japan in a variety of roles, before being appointed Managing Director in early 1992. He left the Swire Group at the end of 1996 to return to Australia.

In January 1997 News Limited appointed him as Executive Chairman of Ansett Airlines in Melbourne. He held that post until April 2000 when News sold its 50% share in Ansett. He remains on the Boards of News Corp and John Swire & Sons Pty Ltd.

Rod Eddington is married with two young children. He enjoys cricket, Australian rules football, rugby and bridge.