WW is so surrounded by hype that I seriously doubt the guy the personal fortitude to ignore it and keep his feet on the ground. In his latter days in Aer Lingus he displayed a stunning ignorance of the down and dirty politics that govern semi-state business in Ireland.
In pilots terms this could best be described as failing to see 'The Big Picture'.
The HYPE got to Willy - he started to think he was Mick O'Leary Mark 2.
The difference, of course, was that while O'Leary is a private individual running a private enterprise, Walsh was just a civil servant.
When O'Leary takes out a full page advert in the Irish papers lambasting and denigrating the Taoiseach (prime minister) the politicians squirm in embarrassment.
When Willy got the idea he could embarrass the government into doing his bidding in the same manner...he put his own head on the chopping block.
There lies the seed of Willys downfall in BA. Arrogance.
Just remember this...WW will always do whats good for Willy. Forget about what might be good for your company. If the two interests coincide (as happily they usually do) then all will progress well. But when the interests of BA, or its pax or its staff are put up against the interests of WW...he'll screw up like he did before.