British Airways : BA: BAW :

British Airways has won a High Court injunction to stop the latest strikes by its cabin staff.
The decision was based on a technicality and whether Unite followed rules in contacting its members with strike result details.
The first of four five-day walkouts had been due to begin at midnight, but will not go ahead following Mr Justice McCombe's decision.
The union had previously said it would appeal if BA was successful in court.

Airbus s'apprête à commencer la construction d'une version plus lourde de l'A380.
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] is about to begin production of an upgraded [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] with increased operating weights that will offer more range and payload capability when it enters service with launch customer [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] in 2013.

Full-scale fatigue testing of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] has passed 45,000 cycles, which Williams say is 2.4 times the original design service goal or "aircraft life", and testing is continuing to beyond 2.5 design service goals.

BA is due to be the launch operator for the improved A380, when its first [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-powered aircraft is delivered in 2013. Airbus executives previously disclosed that the weight and performance gain came from a requirement for a couple of customers during sales campaigns against the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]-8I.

Meanwhile as Airbus prepares to deliver the first A380 to the fifth customer, [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], subassemblies for the initial batch of aircraft for the sixth customer, Korean Air, have been delivered to the final assembly line in Toulouse. Delivery is scheduled for the second quarter of 2011.

Jeannot a écrit:La justice donne raison à BA dans le conflit qui l'oppose au PNC qui devait commencer une grève à partir de minuit.

British Airways has won a High Court injunction to stop the latest strikes by its cabin staff.
The decision was based on a technicality and whether Unite followed rules in contacting its members with strike result details.
The first of four five-day walkouts had been due to begin at midnight, but will not go ahead following Mr Justice McCombe's decision.
The union had previously said it would appeal if BA was successful in court.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] [/url]

• rétablir la règle de la loi ("Rule of Law"), plutôt que de laisser faire la loi de la jungle, et celle de la rue,
  
• en appuyant les principes du Droit, ..... dans la vraie indépendance de la Justice,
  
• sans crainte des ricochets politiques et des grandes gueules qui politiques, qui préfèrent bafouer la Justice, pour récolter quelques voix, ici et là ! [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]
  

British Airways on Monday won a legal bid to block a threatened five-day strike by cabin crew members, though unions said they would immediately appeal the decision.

The first of four five-day walkouts had been due to begin at midnight, but will now not go ahead as planned.
BA's lawyers had argued that the Unite union had broken the law on a technicality over the way it had conducted the strike ballot.

In the end, Justice McCombe granted the order against the union. He said the "balance of convenience" in his view required the granting of an injunction.

In a statement, BA said it would aim to restore a full flight slate at London's Heathrow airport by the weekend, pending any further disruption from the volcanic ash cloud.
It had originally anticipated operating only 60 percent of long-haul flights out of Heathrow over the strike period and 50 percent of short-haul flights.
BA called upon Unite to "take this opportunity to pause and focus on achieving the early and peaceful end to this dispute which the travelling public and all our employees want."

The union, however, said it would appeal the decision as early as Tuesday.
The dispute with cabin crew over pay and conditions has already resulted in seven days of strikes in March, which cost the airline GBP£45 million pounds.
Unite said on Sunday it had reached agreement in principle with BA over its plans to save GBP£62.5 million a year to counter falling demand, volatile fuel prices and greater competition.
Earlier the union's joint leader Derek Simpson said it was "not beyond the bounds of possibility" that a deal could be struck.
"One of the jobs that needs to be done is to provide reassurance and some confidence that if we do a deal, the deal sticks," he told BBC TV.

"There has to be resolution. It would be sad to see either the company collapse and capitulate, or it would be equally sad to see our members dragged back to work in defeat. It shouldn't be allowed to get to that stage."

The union has said the main sticking point to a deal was the restoration of travel perks taken away from staff who went on strike in March and other disciplinary matters.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh said the travel perks were not the issue.

"This is not about travel concessions; this is about a dysfunctional trade union," he said. "I'm an optimist at heart and I hope that common sense will prevail and this strike action will be called off."

Britain's new transport minister Philip Hammond, who met both parties on Monday, urged them to keep talking.
"Think about the long-term interests of the UK, the UK travelling public, the employees and the airline, because actually they are all the same," he told BBC radio.

(Reuters)

British Airways started implementing its contingency plan to mitigate the effect of cabin crew strikes after the UK Court of Appeal yesterday overturned an injunction blocking the industrial action, which originally was scheduled to begin Tuesday.
BA secured the injunction against the Unite union Monday ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]). "We are very disappointed for our customers that Unite's appeal has been upheld and that the union intends to go ahead with its unjustified and pointless strikes," BA said in a statement.

......and said, "Unite's strikes have failed twice and they will fail again."

Nonetheless, UK media revealed that the carrier told the court that a "conservative" estimate of four five-day flight attendant strikes, which Unite has planned for this month and June, will cost it £138 million ($198 million).

"BA must now accept that negotiation, not litigation, is the only way to secure the settlement we all want," Unite Joint General Secretary Tony Woodley said,

........warning that "further strikes will be unavoidable if the company does not immediately work with us to address the outstanding issues."

The Court of Appeal ruling means the first planned strike could go ahead immediately, but Unite yesterday declined to announce a date for the first of the four strikes. The first strike had been scheduled for May 18-22 with three further five-day strikes on May 24-28, May 30-June 3 and June 5-9.

BA said its contingency plan will allow it to operate a full schedule at London Gatwick and London City and more than 60% of its long-haul operation and more than 50% of its short-haul schedule at London Heathrow during the strike periods. It will announce financial results for its full fiscal year ended March 31 today.

British Airways in record £531m loss

The flag carrier lost £531m ($766m) in the 12 months to March - BA's biggest loss since it was privatised in 1987.
That adds to the £401m it lost in the 2008-9 financial year, but is less than the £600m loss many analysts feared.
The results come as BA faces 15 more days of strike action by cabin crew, due to begin on Monday.
Revenues at the airline were down £1bn on last year, BA said, though it managed to cut costs by nearly £990m - a £600m saving coming from lower fuel costs over the year.
BA's chief executive Willie Walsh said that despite the huge losses, the company's efforts to cut costs were a cause for optimism.
But he said the agreement of staff to "permanent change" was essential if the airline was to recover.
Strike impact
"Returning the business to profitability requires permanent change across the company and it's disappointing that our cabin crew union fails to recognise that," Mr Walsh said.
"Structural change has been achieved in many parts of the business and our engineers and pilots have voted for permanent change."
It is estimated that strikes by cabin crew in March cost BA £43m. Further strikes due to begin next week are likely to hit the airline's finances even further.
The disruption caused by volcanic ash from Iceland is also likely to have added to BA's losses, though this is not counted in these latest results.
Douglas McNeill, transport analyst at Charles Stanley, said the ash-related disruption could cost BA an extra £100m.
But despite the problems caused by ash and strikes, the underlying problems of high costs and a fall in passenger numbers were still the major concern, he said.
As well as fewer passengers, those business passengers who were flying were downgrading to cheaper seats.
However, a cause for optimism was that there had been "something of an uptick in demand" from business travel in recent months, he added, and a loss below £600m would be regarded as good news by investors.
BA shares rose slightly in early trading.
BA also has significant cash reserves that mean it can continue operating for some time despite losses.
The airline said it currently had £1.7bn in the bank.
Speaking to the BBC, Mr Walsh said BA would be "doing everything we can" to reach an agreement with Unite - the union representing striking cabin crew - in order to prevent strikes from going ahead from Monday.
He added that he had spoken to Unite's joint general secretary Tony Woodley and still hoped to come to an agreement.
Mr Walsh said that he believed BA and Unite would be able to come to an agreement, but blamed Bassa - the branch of Unite representing cabin crew - for preventing that from happening.
But he said the airline was ready to operate "significant services" if the industrial action went ahead.

BA: la grève démarre lundi après l'abandon des discussions

LONDRES, 23 mai 2010 : La grève du personnel de cabine de British Airways va commencer lundi après une rupture "catastrophique" des négociations visant à éviter une série d'arrêts de travail, a indiqué en interne un responsable syndical, selon les médias britanniques.

Spain's Iberia ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]) has exercised an option to buy five planes and sold them to British Airways ([Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]), a spokeswoman for the Spanish flag carrier said, in a sign that the merger partners are moving ever closer.
Iberia's shares were up as much as 2 percent on Friday, before flattening out, against an IBEX-35 index down 2.8 percent at 1143 GMT.
"The two had said that this was one of the areas where they could generate synergies," an analyst in Spain said.
BA and Iberia are hoping for around 400 million euros of annual synergies from their tie-up, which is due to be completed by the end of the year [IDLDE63707M].
A report in Spain's Expansion newspaper said the five Airbus A320 planes had a catalogue value of about 300 million dollars.
The planes originally formed part of Iberia's biggest ever fleet renovation deal, signed in 2005 with Airbus EADS.PA for 30 acquisitions and 49 options on aircraft for delivery to 2011.
British Airways declined to comment.

Five [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] A320s firmed as an order by Spanish flag-carrier Iberia last month after actually destined to be delivered to merger partner [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].

The [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] order, concluded on 3 May, was listed in Airbus' latest backlog figures, covering the first five months of 2010.
While it is attributed to Iberia, a spokeswoman for the airline states that the twin-jets have been ordered on BA's behalf.

"These aircraft were part of an Iberia option from 2005," she says. "We've bought them for BA."
Iberia ordered 30 A320-family jets in 2005 and placed options for another 49.

BA declines to comment on the transaction.

The UK airline's A320-family fleet is primarily powered by International Aero Engines V2500s while Iberia's aircraft mainly have CFM International [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] powerplants.

Iberia says it has yet to decide whether the aircraft will be transferred to BA through a sale, lease or other arrangement.

BA and Iberia are finalising a merger and last month estimated that current fleet commitments would account for 7% of the initial €250 million ($300 million) in cost synergies over the first five years of the tie-up.

BA va se développer à Madrid, faute de potentiel d'expansion à Londres

LONDRES, 11 juin 2010 (AFP)Le patron de British Airways (BA), Willie Walsh, a prévenu vendredi que sa compagnie aérienne allait développer ses activités à partir de Madrid une fois bouclée sa fusion avec Iberia, faute de possibilités d'expansion à Londres, dans un entretien au Financial Times.


2010 AFP

Jeannot a écrit:BA va se développer à Madrid, faute de potentiel d'expansion à Londres

BA va se développer à Madrid, faute de potentiel d'expansion à Londres

LONDRES, 11 juin 2010 (AFP)Le patron de British Airways (BA), Willie Walsh, a prévenu vendredi que sa compagnie aérienne allait développer ses activités à partir de Madrid une fois bouclée sa fusion avec Iberia, faute de possibilités d'expansion à Londres, dans un entretien au Financial Times.


2010 AFP

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BA Cabin Crew Union Warns Of New Strike Vote

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]

British Airways’ cabin crew union says that unless progress is made in contractual talks by June 29, it will call a new strike vote.
Unite earlier this month completed a round of walkouts, but needs new authorization from members for a further work stoppage. The process could lead to disruptions in August. The balloting would conclude July 27, with the union having to give three weeks’ notice before a stoppage actually starts.
Unite’s grievances are expanding, and now include the airline’s use of other employees to fill in for cabin crew during recent strike periods to minimize disruptions. “BA’s actions have caused divisions in the workplace which will take considerable time and effort to heal,” the union said.
The two sides also are fighting over BA’s decision to remove travel perks from those that walked out. The union also feels the airline has been harassing workers by harshly enforcing missteps.
Those come on top of issues over labor terms that are the root cause of the dispute, although those differences have narrowed.
Brian Boyd, the Unite national officer for civil aviation, says, “The cost to the company’s reputation, the £154 million that by its own admission it has lost as a result of taking on its employees, and the fact that it has already imposed the substantive items of change it needed to save £60 million begs the question; ‘what is the company attempting to achieve?’ As a result of its hard-nosed attitude, BA will continue to lose many more customers and revenue to other airlines.”
As in prior instances, BA would aim to reduce the impact of any strike action on its scheduled operations.

British Airways takes delivery of four-class 777-300ER

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] is to operate its new [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft with a four-class interior, comprising 297 seats, when it puts the twin-jet into service later this year.
It has taken delivery of its first example (G-STBA), one of six, becoming the first UK carrier to introduce the type.
BA is taking three 777-300ERs this year and the other three by early 2012.
The airline's chief executive, Willie Walsh, says the aircraft's cabin has been completely modernised.
"It is the aircraft first to be fitted-out with our new 'World Traveller' and 'World Traveller Plus' cabins," he says. The twin-jet also features BA's 'First' and 'Club World' interiors.
Walsh adds that the upgraded in-flight entertainment system will provide customers with 50% more choice on movies and increased television and music programmes.
European companies using the 777-300ER include [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Turkish Airlines. The aircraft are exclusively powered by General Electric [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] engines.

"British Airways cabin crew have rejected the airline's latest "final" pay offer by 3,419 votes to 1,686.

Almost half the 11,000 affected Unite union members voted on BA's offer of a 2.9% pay rise next year with 3% the year after.

Le personnel de cabine engage une action contre British Airways

LONDRES, 26 juillet (Reuters) - Le syndicat représentant le personnel de cabine de British Airways a annoncé lundi qu'il engagerait une action en justice contre la compagnie pour avoir supprimé des avantages à des employés grévistes.
A l'origine, les employés protestaient contre des réductions de salaire et de personnel, mais le règlement du conflit a ensuite buté sur une décision de BA de supprimer aux grévistes les avantages en nature sous forme de voyages.
"Unite estime que la décision de la direction va à l'encontre de la législation sociale européenne", dit le syndicat dans un communiqué. "Il croit aussi que cette sanction (...) a été prise sans que la procédure disciplinaire adéquate soit respectée".
La semaine dernière, Unite a annoncé que le personnel de cabine avait voté le rejet d'une nouvelle offre de salaire de BA.
Unite, qui représente 90% du personnel de cabine de BA, a dit qu'il poursuivrait les discussions la semaine prochaine avec la compagnie avec l'aide du service de conciliation ACAS

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] is to take on three [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] freighters for its World Cargo division next year, which will be operated under a wet-lease through Global Supply Systems.

Global Supply Systems performs cargo flights on behalf of British Airways. The company is 49%-owned by US-based Atlas Air Worldwide Holdings, which will act as the source and lessor of the aircraft.
Three 747-8Fs will be operated by GSS, on the British Airways network, under a five-year wet-lease agreement.
"It is our view that long-haul freighters form an integral part of our overall business strategy, providing flexibility and capacity on resilient and growing lanes," says BA World Cargo managing director Steve Gunning.

He describes the decision to move to the 747-8F as an "important step" in the company's development.
Atlas Air is expecting to take delivery of the aircraft - among 12 it has on order from [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] - early next year.
Chief executive William Flynn says that BA's World Cargo division will be one of the first carriers to introduce the 747-8F to its operations.
"Through GSS, our new aircraft will give BA World Cargo increased capacity and revenue-generating capability in a growing air freight market," he says.

Air Berlin to join Oneworld alliance

German carrier Air Berlin is intending to join the Oneworld alliance, and has reached a preliminary agreement on membership.
Air Berlin's bid is being sponsored by British Airways. It has also entered codeshare pacts with Oneworld's American Airlines and Finnair.
The German carrier says it has agreed on "key aspects" of its prospective accession to Oneworld and "will work towards completing a full membership agreement".
"Membership in Oneworld would strengthen Air Berlin's competitive position and enable it to participate in the alliance's revenue-enhancement and cost-reduction activities," it adds.
Air Berlin's tie-up with American will allow it to offer codeshare flights to 15 additional US destinations, plus two in the Bahamas. The Finnair partnership will provide codeshare access on routes to points in Europe and Asia

German carrier [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]move to become the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]signals new ground for the airline, the grouping and alliances in general.

Air Berlin has [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]regarding its membership of the group and says a formal alliance agreement will be "signed soon". It aims to complete membership in time to enter the alliance in early 2012, shortly before the opening of Berlin's new Brandenburg International Airport in June of that year.

In the meantime Air Berlin is already planning to co-operate with oneworld carriers American Airlines and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] through codeshares this year, and says bilateral agreements are intended with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Iberia.
Air Berlin will bring 75 more points to the alliance's network and take its destination count close to 900 when it joins the alliance. "One area where we [oneworld] have been keen to expand our network has been central Europe, Germany in particular," says Willie Walsh, chief executive at Air Berlin's oneworld sponsor British Airways.

"Germany is the biggest country in the EU, Europe's largest economy." While he points to the number of services oneworld carriers fly into Germany - 10 of its 11 members serve the country - he adds: "We don't currently have a network within the region. With the addition of Air Berlin, our alliance will be able provide even more flights to Germany and also a much more extensive network within central Europe. The opening of the [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]makes it an even more attractive proposition.

Chief executive of Air Berlin, Joachim Hunold, describes the move as the fourth stage in the carrier's development which after a number of acquisitions has seen it evolve from a small charter operation into one of Europe's largest airlines - generating $4.5 billion in revenues in 2009. "Now we have reached a fork in the road as far as our future strategy is concerned. Go it alone or take advantage of the growing trend for partnerships and globalisation."

Following a review he says it is clear the industry is following a path of alliances and consolidation and that joining a global alliance is the most promising option.

"It puts our airline firmly on the global stage," he adds.

Air Berlin's oneworld move though also signals a further meeting between the traditional full service and low-cost carrier worlds, already evident earlier this year when American unveiled a partnership at New York JFK with US low-cost carrier JetBlue.

Air Berlin has itself always shied away from defining itself in the pure low-cost carrier bracket and has a successful frequent flyer programme, operates out of primary airports and has a premium class product on its long-haul services. "We call ourselves a hybrid carrier, that means we aim to offer high quality product at favourable prices," says Hunold. "We clearly differentiate ourselves from the no-frills carriers and offer a product that is comparable with legacy carriers."

But Air Berlin's low-cost credentials are recognised by the alliance members. "The low-cost structure [of Air Berlin] will provide oneworld a real advantage when competing with airlines in rival alliances in this part of the world. It will give oneworld a fantastically cost-effective feeder network in Europe," says Walsh, adding oneworld members will be able to "learn a thing or two about cost control from our new found friends in Berlin".

The agreement with Air Berlin marks the latest development in what oneworld managing partner John McCulloch describes as a "breakthrough year" for oneworld.

Hot on the heels of [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], oneworld will later this year add Russian carrier S7 - itself an existing partner of Air Berlin - as the 12th member of the alliance. It also earlier this year formally invited Indian carrier Kingfisher into the alliance and secured the continued commitment of Japan Airlines to oneworld. [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], while American, BA and Iberia have just secured European and US approval for their transatlantic joint venture.
"We have waited 14 years for the benefits of the transatlantic joint business for our customers and to compete on an equal base with the other two global alliances," says McCulloch.

Air Berlin's Austrian associate carrier Niki is to become an affiliate member of the Oneworld alliance when the German airline joins in early 2012.
Niki, which is almost 50%-owned by Air Berlin, operates low-cost services from locations including Vienna.
Air Berlin has signed a memorandum of understanding with Oneworld regarding its membership of the group and says a formal alliance agreement will be "signed soon".

Its accession to Oneworld, which will come shortly before the opening of Berlin's new Brandenburg International Airport, will bring 75 more points to the alliance's network and take its destination count close to 900.
But Air Berlin is already planning to co-operate with Oneworld carriers American Airlines and [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] through codeshares this year, and says bilateral agreements are intended with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Iberia.
"Joining a global alliance is the logical next step in Air Berlin's development," says chief executive Joachim Hunold.
"Becoming part of Oneworld would be one of the most significant departures so far for our airline, enabling us to offer our customers a truly global network served by partners who include some of the best and biggest airlines in the world."

(RTTNews) - Europe's third largest airline British Airways Plc (BAY.L: News ,BAIRY.PK: News ) reported Friday that total traffic for the month of August dropped 2.9% on a 2.6% lower capacity from a year ago, reflecting particular weakness in the Asia-Pacific region.

The airline noted that the overall summer volumes were slightly lower than the peak levels reached last year, with market conditions remaining as anticipated earlier as consumers continued to hold back on expensive holidays.
However, strong yield performance were seen in both premium and non-premium traffic.

British Airways' total traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometers (RPK), for August decreased 2.9% to 10.553 billion, primarily attributable to a 11.6% decline in the Asia Pacific region. The company noted that traffic comprised a 1.4% decrease in premium traffic and a 3.1% drop in non-premium traffic.

Total passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometers (ASK) declined 2.6% in the month to 12.507 billion, led by a 11.4% drop in capacity in the Asia Pacific region.

Consequently, the airline's total passenger load factor - proportion of available seats filled against the capacity, was 84.4%, down 0.3 percentage points from 84.7% recorded in the previous year.

Total passengers carried during the month edged down 0.1% to 3.154 million from the prior-year period's 3.157 million, due primarily to a 11.1% drop in passengers in the Asia Pacific region and 2.9% fall in the Americas.

For the month of August, total revenue tonne kilometers (RTK) decreased 0.7% to 1.463 billion. Cargo tonne Kilometers (CTK) grew 3.4% to 394 million, while available tonne kilometers edged down 0.2% to 1.901 billion from the previous year.
Total overall load factor decreased 0.4 percentage points to 77.0% from last year's 77.4%.

For the year-to-date fiscal-year period of April to August, British Airways' traffic declined 9.6% to 45.333 billion RPKs from a year ago, and passenger capacity decreased 7.6% to 57.597 billion ASKs. Total RTK was 6.494 billion, down 5.5% from last year.

British Airways' overall load factor for the April to August period edged down 0.7 percentage points to 73.3% from last year, and passenger load factor declined 1.8 percentage points to 78.7% from a year ago.

For the period, the number of passengers carried totaled 13.375 million, down 9.7% from the prior-year period.

In Friday's regular trading session, BAY.L is currently trading on the LSE at 225.00 pence, up 3.40 pence or 1.53% on a volume of 3.07 million shares.
The stock has been trading in a range of 172.40 pence to 255.80 pence in the past 52-week period.

BA CEO Walsh: 12 Targets Identified For After Iberia Merger

LONDON -Dow Jones- Brittish Airways PLC (BAY.LN) and Spain's Iberia Lineas Aereas de Espana S.A (IBLA.MC), which are in the process of completing a merger, have identified 12 potential acquisition targets for the merged company, the company's Chief Executive-designate, Willie Walsh said this weekend.

International Group, or IAC, as the combined airline will be called after the deal closes, has already identified airlines which would make attractive targets, Walsh told reporters at a media briefing in Mumbai, India.

His remarks indicate that IAG plans to take a lead in continued airline consolidation.

"With Iberia, we have had a number of meetings where we have looked at airlines around the world and identified those that would be attractive to us in joining IAG," Walsh, previously CEO of British Airways, said in reported remarks verified by a U.K.-based spokeswoman.

The two companies' management teams initially had a list of 40 airlines which it has since whittled down to 12, Walsh said.

"This is just to give us a focus. We have not had any discussions with any airlines. There is nothing going on at the moment," he said, adding "we would not pursue all 12 (potential acquisition targets)."

A report in the U.K.'s Mail on Sunday newspaper said BA was focusing in particular on acquiring a South American airline and said the "most obvious" partner would be Chile's LAN airlines (LAN.SN), which is merging with Brazil's TAM (TAMM4.BR).

The BA spokeswoman said Walsh hadn't identified any specific targets to the press. She wouldn't comment on the accuracy of this report.

Under the proposed BA/Iberia merger, which would create Europe's third-largest airline, BA would take 56% of the enlarged company, while Iberia shareholders will own 44%. Iberia has until the end of September to decide whether to accept the deal or walk away from it at the cost of a break fee of EUR20 million.

In this weekend's press briefing, Walsh said he believed (further) consolidation is "part of the answer for the (airline) industry."

BA plans major transatlantic push at London City Airport

British Airways is preparing to expand its transatlantic flight routes from London City airport as part of a host of big investments planned by boss Willie Walsh to capitalise on the airline's recovery from recession.
The news could lead to a jobs boost at the capital's smallest major airport after Walsh said BA's direct route from London City to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] - which launched last September - had been "hugely successful" and revealed that the flag carrier is looking at ordering more Airbus A318 planes, which have to be specially modified to cater for the short runway.
When BA first launched its business class-only service from London City to New York at the height of the recession in autumn last year, critics said it would be a failure. Some likened it to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the business class airline that went bust in May 2008. But Walsh said the London-New York route had been "even better than we'd expected". He added: "It's a word of mouth success. London City is a convenient airport for business, and we can put more flights on at peak times which we couldn't do at [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] because of capacity
"Now we're looking at either increasing capacity or the network, potentially to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] or [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]."
Walsh said that the new planes could be ordered within weeks. With a lead-in time of nine months the new City routes could be flying before the end of next year. Walsh revealed the plans after BA flew the inaugural flight of its new [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] to [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], the airline's first major investment since the downturn. After a difficult year during which BA faced a damaging 22 days of staff strikes costing £250million and being hit by a recession-fuelled plunge in demand, Walsh is now planning to capitalise on economic recovery.
He said BA's current "healthy-looking" passenger and cargo numbers were a "barometer of confidence". "Our long-haul premium volumes and yields have recovered faster than we had anticipated," he said. "As an airline, we're not seeing anything suggestive of an economic downturn. So far recovery is going a little faster than I'd expected."
Walsh also outlined ambitious expansion plans for the new International Airlines Group, the company that is to be formed through BA's merger with [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien], including a shopping list of 12 rival airlines he wants to take over. "The ambition is to consolidate further," Walsh said. "I sat down with colleagues at Iberia and identified 40 airlines that would be attractive to join IAG. Now we've narrowed it down to 12. That's why we didn't call the new company BA-Iberia.
"We specifically chose a name that would not restrict us."
Cabin crew union Unite is today holding a meeting to discuss plans for another possible burst of strikes over Christmas, but Walsh said: "I'm not worried at all. We've shown them that we can deal with strikes. If we face industrial action then we'll fly 100% of our long-haul programme

Gulf Air looks to BA alliance

The struggling Bahraini carrier Gulf Air is keen to join International Airlines Group, the new airline formed by the merger of British Airways (BA) and Spain’s Iberia.

The Bahraini airline has said it would “consider positively” any overture from the new company, which was to be headed by Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA.


Mr Walsh said last week he had drawn up a list of 12 potential consolidation partners as he sought to chart a course to stability and profitability for BA, the embattled UK carrier that had fought competitors, high fuel prices, the global downturn and its own labour union in recent years.

None of the 12 airlines have been identified but many analysts pointed to east Asian and Latin American carriers as being at the top of Mr Walsh’s list.


But among the rumoured companies is the loss-making Gulf Air, which is looking to join an alliance to generate long-haul traffic as it cuts down its own network to focus more on the Middle East.

“Gulf Air has not been approached regarding this initiative. However, it is something the company would consider positively at the appropriate time,” a Gulf Air spokeswoman said.

“A central element of our long-term strategy is to join an alliance, and we are actively looking for a suitable partner to support Gulf Air’s business model and add value to the airline and vice versa.”

Walsh says BA still ‘interested’ in Qantas; Joyce shuns merger talk


Two years after merger talks collapsed between Qantas and British Airways, BA CEO Willie Walsh says the company is “still interested in dealing with the Australian airline.” However, QF is turning its back on any merger with BA and will focus on internal growth in Asia, according to CEO Alan Joyce.

Answering media questions at an address to the strategic Lowy Institute in Sydney Tuesday, Joyce said flatly that he had, “been there and done that,” and noted, “We are more focused on the Asian market and organic growth in that region."

Earlier this month, BA CEO Willie Walsh told The Australian that Qantas could be a strong candidate to join International Airlines Group, the holding company being formed to own BA and IB following their merger. Earlier this month, Walsh, who will head IAG, said the group has identified a list of 12 potential airlines with which to merge or to acquire.

In early 2008 Joyce’s predecessor, Geoff Dixon, proposed a merger with BA and those talks, which Joyce inherited later in the year, eventually fizzled. While Joyce is shunning a BA tie-up, he predicts that organic growth will see the group’s LCC subsidiary Jetstar pass Virgin Blue in size within five years. “It is already more profitable” he told the Lowy Institute. “Jetstar has helped the Qantas Group make the transition to a sustainable portfolio business. With Qantas, Qantas Frequent Flyer and Jetstar we now have strong businesses that complement each other, and provide us with Group stability through changing economic times.” Joyce said that Jetstar "was really important to us" during the global finance crisis. Now, in the recovery, Qantas is particularly strong,” he added.