British Airways : BA: BAW :

Oneworld partners British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia offered to lease at least four daily slot pairs at London Heathrow or Gatwick to competing carriers for service to three US cities in order to address regulatory concerns about their proposed transatlantic joint venture.

Early last month the European Commission said it was assessing "the effectiveness of proposed commitments" by the airlines designed to address a formal Statement of Objections issued last September. At that time, the EC identified a number of long-haul routes, mainly between LHR and the US, with potential antitrust issues [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien].
Later in February the US Dept. of Transportation tentatively granted antitrust immunity to the oneworld joint venture under the condition that the carriers surrender four slot pairs at LHR for up to 10 years [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. DOT did not suggest LGW was an acceptable alternative. AA and BA repeatedly have resisted ceding slots at LHR.
Yesterday, BA issued a statement addressing the EC investigation and pledged that the trio will make available for lease to non-oneworld airlines two daily slot pairs to Boston from either LHR or LGW, one daily slot pair to Dallas/Fort Worth from LHR or LGW and one daily slot pair to Miami from LHR or LGW. In addition, two slot pairs from London to New York JFK could be made available "should today's competitive conditions between [the cities] change," according to BA.

"The slots can be leased from the airlines' current slot portfolio and don't have to be slots currently used on the specified routes. The European Commission has agreed that the airlines should be compensated financially by those airlines wishing to lease slots," BA said.

"We're pleased that the EC has recognized that we should be compensated for leasing the slots. This reflects the fact that there is an active slots market in London where slots are generally traded for value," BA CEO Willie Walsh said. There had been speculation that the EC might demand the slots be surrendered for free. The initial leasing period will be five years, a BA spokesperson told ATWOnline, adding that the decision regarding which airline will give up which slot will be finalized once regulatory approval is finalized."

"The EC is expected to conduct its "market test" phase, which allows third parties to comment on the airlines' proposal, before making a final decision on April 10.
Regarding the US DOT ruling, the oneworld trio reiterated that it is "reviewing the order and will respond by the timeframe established for comments," and said it "welcomed the EU's announcement that it will be working closely with the US DOT and taking into account its opinion at key points in the regulatory process." A final DOT ruling is expected at the end of April.

by Cathy Buyck

"We've offered to take a 2.6 percent reduction in pay and to make various changes in work practices which will save BA about GBP£20 million but they don't like our figures so there is a figures war going on," -- Unite union spokeswoman.

British Airways and unions are GBP£10 million pounds (USD$15 million) away from reaching the airline's cost savings target from staffing changes and averting a cabin crew strike, according to Unite officials.

"We are only GBP£10 million apart now but if they (BA) are intransigent in terms of that figure we will have to start talking about dates (on which to strike)," a Unite spokeswoman said ahead of a union meeting on Thursday to discuss a potential strike.
More than 80 percent of the 9,000 BA cabin crew balloted by Unite last month voted in favour of industrial action but no date for a walkout has yet been set.

BA wants three-quarters of its crew to accept a pay freeze this year, and for 3,000 staff to switch to part-time working, along with a reduction in onboard crewing levels from 15 to 14 on long-haul flights from London Heathrow to help it deliver the GBP£62.5 million in cost savings it is looking for.
"We've offered to take a 2.6 percent reduction in pay and to make various changes in work practises which will save BA about GBP£20 million but they don't like our figures so there is a figures war going on," the Unite spokeswoman added.
The Trades Union Congress, which has been mediating negotiations, said talks between the British carrier and Unite aimed at averting a strike broke down on Wednesday.

A BA spokesman on Thursday said the airline was "available for further talks" with Unite.
BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, has said the airline must move away from its old, inefficient ways if long-term survival is to be ensured and that changes at the airline, which analysts believe is losing around GBP£1.5 million a day, are essential to help repair its precarious finances.

(Reuters)

In February 2010 traffic, measured in Revenue Passenger Kilometres, rose by 1.1 per cent on February 2009. Passenger capacity, measured in Available Seat Kilometres, was down 1.9 per cent. This resulted in a passenger load factor increase of 2.2 points versus last year, to 74.2 per cent. Traffic comprised a 5.0 per cent increase in premium traffic and a 0.3 per cent increase in non-premium traffic. Last year's February traffic data was affected by significant weather disruption in the first week of the month.

Cargo, measured in Cargo Tonne Kilometres, rose by 9.2 per cent.

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] subsidiary BA CityFlyer has received its first [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] aircraft as its regional fleet overhaul nears completion.
The new 98-seat jet will operate the BA8706 service from London City to Edinburgh today. It will then operate the Amsterdam and Zurich routes before returning to Edinburgh.
[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] recently secured regulatory approval for the 190 to make the steep approach necessary to land at City Airport.
BA CityFlyer managing director Peter Simpson says: "We are now on the last leg of our fleet replacement programme and our passengers will benefit from the extra space these new, greener aircraft offer."
CityFlyer placed an order for six Embraer 170s and five 190s in December 2008 to replace its BAE Systems [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] RJs. It has taken delivery of all of its 170s.
The second Embraer 190 delivery is scheduled for April, says CityFlyer commercial manager Luke Hayhoe.
"We will have four Embraer 190s by June," he says, adding that the final aircraft is scheduled for delivery in late summer.
Cityflyer has four RJs still in its fleet but will retire another RJ100 tomorrow. Its RJ fleet will then comprise only a single RJ100 and two RJ85s, and "they will be retired by June", says Hayhoe.

"This will probably cost BA something in the region of GBP£20 million a day but maybe less since they have some contingency plans in place," -- Stephen Furlong, Davy Stockbrokers.

British Airways cabin crew will walk out for seven days this month after talks between the airline and unions broke down, in a dispute that analysts say could cost the airline around GBP£140 million pounds ($212.4 million).
The Unite union on Friday said BA cabin crew would strike for three days from March 20 and for four days from March 27, adding that BA had made a new formal offer to staff on Thursday which it would put to its members.
"BA made a formal offer to staff, which we are not recommending, but we will put that to members and should have a result on it by next week," Len McCluskey, Unite's assistant general secretary said at a press conference.

Cabin crew will not strike over the Easter holidays, which are spread across the first week of April, but Unite said if no deal is reached more strikes could be called after Easter.

BA said is was "extremely disappointed" and that proposals put forward by Unite fell "significantly short" of helping it reach its GBP£60 million cost-saving target.
"The strike could still be averted. Lufthansa had a one day strike last month but sorted it out, which shows what can be done," said Davy Stockbrokers analyst Stephen Furlong.
"This will probably cost BA something in the region of GBP£20 million a day but maybe less since they have some contingency plans in place," said Davy Stockbrokers aviation analyst Stephen Furlong.

BA has trained staff from other areas of the company to fill-in as cabin crew during the strike and has said it will hire 23 fully-crewed planes from charter companies to help run flights from Heathrow.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh has said the airline must move away from its old, inefficient ways if long-term survival is to be ensured, and that changes at the airline, which analysts believe is losing around GBP£1.5 million a day, are essential to help repair its precarious finances.

Earlier on Friday Gavin Halliday, BA's European head, said the strike threat had not hit bookings too badly.
"The damage the strike threat has done to our business is not as big as it could have been," Halliday said, adding the impact on earnings was likely "not disastrous".
The union's 13,000 cabin crew members have twice voted for industrial action as part of a dispute over job losses and changes to working practices, but a 12-day Christmas strike was halted following a successful legal challenge from BA.

(Reuters)

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] expects to operate a "substantial" part of its long-haul and short-haul schedule from London Heathrow during the planned cabin crew strike this month.
The airline, which has been laying groundwork for possible industrial action, adds that it plans to operate all long-haul flights, and half of its short-haul flights, from London Gatwick.

All of its services from London City - including its transatlantic operation to New York - will also be operated.
"We are also in the process of obtaining seats on flights operated by other carriers to enable thousands of customers to fly to their chosen destinations," the carrier adds.
Cabin crew members, represented by the Unite union, are to hold two strikes this month covering a total of seven days.

British Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis urged cabin crew at British Airways to call off their planned strikes this month, saying it threatened the company's very existence.
Cabin crew are due to walk out on seven days this month after talks between the airline and unions on changes to working practices broke down. Analysts say the dispute could cost the airline around GBP£140 million pounds (USD$212 million).

Asked if the strike put the future of British Airways in danger, Adonis told the BBC: "Yes I do... The stakes are incredibly high in this strike."
"It is not only the damage it is going to do to passengers and the inconvenience it is going to cause, which is quite disproportionate to the issues at stake, but also the threat it poses to the future of one of our great companies."
The planned strike would "threaten the very existence of British Airways," he said.

The Unite union said on Friday its members would strike for three days from March 20 and for four days from March 27, while BA removed a formal offer made to staff on Thursday, saying it had been conditional on Unite not naming any strike dates.

Adonis said the strike would be deeply damaging to the economy and could threaten the jobs of the union's members.
"They (the union) should call off this strike. They should get back into negotiations with British Airways again. They came very, very close to an agreement last week, so close that I believe that if they could continue these negotiations in a constructive way it would be possible to call this strike off," he said.

Adonis said there was a short window before British Airways had to announce what would happen to flights if the strike went ahead.
"In this short window I implore the union to get together with the management and to see whether at this late stage a solution can be found," he said.

BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, has said the airline must move away from its old, inefficient ways if long-term survival is to be ensured.

Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey has accused BA management of seeking to "destroy trade unionism among its employees".

BA said Unite's proposals to save the airline money fell significantly short of helping it reach its GBP£60 million cost-saving target and would leave crew much worse off.
BA has trained staff from other areas of the company to fill in as cabin crew during the strike and has said it will hire 23 fully-crewed planes from charter companies to help run flights from London's Heathrow airport.

(Reuters)

British Transport Secretary Andrew Adonis urged cabin crew at British Airways to call off their planned strikes this month, saying it threatened the company's very existence.
Cabin crew are due to walk out on seven days this month after talks between the airline and unions on changes to working practices broke down. Analysts say the dispute could cost the airline around GBP£140 million pounds (USD$212 million).

Asked if the strike put the future of British Airways in danger, Adonis told the BBC: "Yes I do... The stakes are incredibly high in this strike."
"It is not only the damage it is going to do to passengers and the inconvenience it is going to cause, which is quite disproportionate to the issues at stake, but also the threat it poses to the future of one of our great companies."
The planned strike would "threaten the very existence of British Airways," he said.

The Unite union said on Friday its members would strike for three days from March 20 and for four days from March 27, while BA removed a formal offer made to staff on Thursday, saying it had been conditional on Unite not naming any strike dates.

Adonis said the strike would be deeply damaging to the economy and could threaten the jobs of the union's members.
"They (the union) should call off this strike. They should get back into negotiations with British Airways again. They came very, very close to an agreement last week, so close that I believe that if they could continue these negotiations in a constructive way it would be possible to call this strike off," he said.

Adonis said there was a short window before British Airways had to announce what would happen to flights if the strike went ahead.
"In this short window I implore the union to get together with the management and to see whether at this late stage a solution can be found," he said.

BA's chief executive, Willie Walsh, has said the airline must move away from its old, inefficient ways if long-term survival is to be ensured.

Unite General Secretary Len McCluskey has accused BA management of seeking to "destroy trade unionism among its employees".

BA said Unite's proposals to save the airline money fell significantly short of helping it reach its GBP£60 million cost-saving target and would leave crew much worse off.
BA has trained staff from other areas of the company to fill in as cabin crew during the strike and has said it will hire 23 fully-crewed planes from charter companies to help run flights from London's Heathrow airport.

(Reuters)

Le Premier ministre britannique Gordon Brown a répété lundi qu'il jugeait "injustifiée et déplorable" la grève annoncée chez British Airways par le syndicat Unite, qui va perturber les vols pendant sept jours avant Pâques.

2010 AFP

The Unite union on Tuesday asked British Airways to return to the negotiating table to try to avert planned strikes by the airline's cabin crew.
Most BA cabin crew plan a three-day strike starting next Saturday, followed by a four-day walkout from March 27, a decision which resulted in BA removing a formal offer made to staff conditional on Unite not naming any strike dates.

BA said on Monday it aimed to fly around 45,000 customers a day during the first stoppage, roughly 60 percent of those booked to fly on those days.
"What we need to do is put the offer on the table, let's get 100 percent of these flights flying and get serious negotiations off the ground again and I make that offer publicly," Unite Joint General Secretary Tony Woodley told BBC Radio 4.

BA chief executive Willie Walsh has said the airline must move away from its old, inefficient ways if long-term survival was to be ensured, and that changes at the airline, which analysts believe is losing GBP£1.5 million pounds (USD$2.25 million) a day, are essential to help repair its precarious finances.
Woodley said it had not been made clear BA's offer would be withdrawn if the union followed through on its threat to strike.

"If I had had an inkling that was the case then certainly my thoughts wouldn't have resulted and ended up where we are today," he said.
"Put the offer back on the table that we had last week and then we can postpone the dispute and get into real serious talks to solve this very difficult problem once and for all."

British Prime Minister Gordon Brown has condemned the planned strikes, and urged BA and Unite to resume talks.
The opposition Conservatives have pointed out that Unite is Labour's largest financial backer. A strike could hurt the party's image weeks before an election.

(Reuters)

...
British Airways found some common ground with its unions, announcing an agreement on a reduction of its £3.7 billion ($5.58 billion) pension funding deficit that was a roadblock in its merger with Iberia. BA yesterday said it "has concluded consultations with its joint trade unions on the future benefits of its defined benefit pension schemes" and that the "proposals are intended to avoid the closure of the pension schemes and maintain British Airways' contributions at the current level of £330 million per annum." Unite, GMB and the British Air Line Pilots Assn. will recommend the proposal to their members. The new benefit structure, which calls for reduced benefits at current employee contributions or the same benefits with a 4.5% increase in employee contributions, also requires approval from BA's pension trustees.
Meanwhile, the Unite union yesterday urged BA to return to the negotiating table ahead of the scheduled Saturday flight attendants date [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien]. "Unite is ready to meet BA. But the company needs to put its offer of last week back on the table. If BA thinks that strikes are going to be avoided with a worse offer, the company is conning the travelling public," the union said. It added that the first of two strikes, scheduled for March 20-22, "will have overwhelming support among cabin crew despite the company's bullying and harassment..."

MADRID, 18 mars 2010 (AFP)L'accord définitif de fusion entre la compagnie aérienne espagnole Iberia et la britannique British Airways (BA) sera approuvé par les conseils d'administration jeudi 25 mars, selon le journal espagnol Expansion.

2010 AFP

MADRID, March 18, 2010 (AFP)The boards of British Airways and Iberia will approve a merger of the two airlines on March 25, the Spanish newspaper Expansion reported on Thursday, citing sources close to the companies.

2010 AFP

British Airways (BA) cabin crew on Saturday began a three-day strike over pay and conditions which will ground hundreds of flights, but the airline said many of its passengers were able to fly.


2010 AFP

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] estimates that the three-day strike by cabin crew has cost the airline £7 million ($10.5 million) per day.
Another four-day strike is scheduled to take place later this month.
Over the first two days, BA says it operated 78% of its long-haul flights and 50% of its short-haul services. It also conducted 70 positioning flights.
Long-haul load factor reached 68%, it states, with 69% on short-haul routes. BA says it achieved a 60% business-class load factor.
BA says its full-year financial forecast to 31 March 2010 "remains broadly unchanged".

BA heading toward second strike, TAP avoids one

The public sniping between British Airways and the Unite union continued yesterday, while TAP Portugal and its pilots struck a more conciliatory tone and reached a deal that cancelled a potentially devastating six-day strike.
TAP pilots represented by the SPAC union called off the March 26-31 work stoppage after agreeing to a new contract. "The agreement includes a pay rise of 1.8%, the same as for the other TAP unions, and equal sharing of productivity gains by pilots and the airline," TAP said.
President and CEO Fernando Pinto said that "common sense has prevailed" and considered the agreement "good for both sides." He added that the carrier "will make every effort to minimize the effects and guarantee normal operation over the Easter period."
Meanwhile, BA withdrew travel privileges from those flight attendants who participated in the March 20-22 walkout, Unite said. The union condemned the move, saying that "many" of its members "rely on the travel assistance to get to work following BA's decision to close its regional bases and require the vast majority of cabin crew to operate out of [London] Heathrow, no matter where they may live." It added that it "will challenge this vindictive move in whatever way seems appropriate." Unite has scheduled its second strike for March 27-30

Le personnel navigant de British Airways a entamé une grève de quatre jours

LONDON, 27 mars 2010 (AFP)Le personnel navigant de la compagnie aérienne British Airways (BA) a entamé samedi une grève de quatre jours, après le premier arrêt de travail de 72 heures achevé lundi, pour s'opposer à des réductions d'effectifs et des mesures d'austérité salariales

BA and Iberia sign formal merger agreement

Oneworld carriers [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] and Iberia have signed their formal merger agreement, following the tentative pact they forged last November.
The merger will create a new holding company, International Airlines Group, under which both carriers will retain their operations and brands.
BA and Iberia state that they expect the merger to be completed late this year.
The terms of the agreement are "consistent" with November's binding memorandum of understanding.
BA says the new group will operate a combined fleet of 408 aircraft, covering more than 200 destinations and transporting over 58 million passengers per year.
"It has been structured so that it can take advantage of further consolidation in the global aviation industry," it adds.

British Airways a augmenté son offre de sièges entre Paris et Londres.

Depuis fin mars 2010, certains des vols entre Paris et Londres opérés par des Airbus A319 et des Airbus A320 vont l’être désormais avec des gros porteurs, des Boeing 767-300ER.

Le nombre de sièges passe donc (respectivement de 120 et 145 sièges à 250 sièges. Les voyageurs pourront disposer de davantage de sièges en classe économique ou en classe Affaires ou encore en classe Europe.

Au départ de l’aéroport Paris Charles de Gaulle, British Airways propose jusqu’à neuf vols par jour.

En semaine, sur les huit vols quotidiens, les trois premiers du matin ainsi que le dernier de la journée seront réalisés en gros porteur.

Ainsi, sur un total de 53 rotations entre Paris et Londres, 24 sont opérés par les Boeing 767-300ER.

Afin de marquer l’événement, British Airways propose des tarifs promotionnels pour les vols à destination de Londres, soit 79 euros avec taxes et frais de services inclus l’aller simple.

Cette campagne est valable pour toute réservation antérieure au 14 avril.

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

Richard Branson, le fondateur du groupe Virgin et notamment de la compagnie aérienne Virgin Atlantic, a estimé lundi que la Commission européenne avait une approche "paresseuse" du rapprochement entre British Airways, American Airlines et Iberia, qu'il estime être une fusion pure et simple.

2010 AFP

Price-fixing charges against four current and former British Airways executives have been dropped after the case against them collapsed.


A spokeswoman for the UK Office of Fair Trading (OFT), which brought about the charges, confirms that the case has collapsed and says a statement is forthcoming. She declines to provide further details.

BA's current director of sales and marketing, Andrew Crawley, former head of UK and Ireland sales Alan Burnett, former commercial director Martin George and former head of corporate communications Iain Burns were all charged with cartel offences related to the price-fixing of fuel surcharges with Virgin Atlantic Airways on long-haul passenger flights between July 2004 and April 2006. Virgin Atlantic was granted immunity and escaped being penalised after it relayed details of the exchanges to the OFT. It is reported that the case collapsed due to lack of evidence.

Richard Latham, QC, prosecuting for the Office of Fair Trading, told the judge and jury at Southwark Crown Court in London he will offer ''no evidence''.

BA's one-time commercial director Martin George, sales and marketing director Andrew Crawley, former head of communications Iain Burns, and Alan Burnett, who led sales in the UK and Ireland, all denied a cartel offence under the Enterprise Act 2002.


Mr Latham told the jury the issue of disclosure, and in particular obtaining material from Virgin Atlantic and its legal advisers, was "contentious".

"What became apparent last Wednesday was that there remained some relevant material in the hands of Virgin Atlantic which was, as yet, undisclosed to the defence," Mr Latham said.
He said those documents would have had an "appreciable impact" on the evidence of key prosecution witness Paul Moore, Virgin's director of corporate affairs who was controversially granted immunity by the OfT in return for giving evidence against BA.
In particular, one email dated March 21 2005 showed that Virgin increased its fuel surcharge to £6 instead of £5 before speaking to BA, suggesting no price-fixing took place on that occasion.

Mr Latham said 70,000 emails were found last week which had not been disclosed, some 12,000 of which were sent or received by Mr Moore, "the central plank of the prosecution case".
The court was told the missing emails were in corrupted files which had been dismissed as irrelevant during the initial investigation.

But last week it emerged the corrupted files could be repaired and contained the "large quantity" of emails.
Mr Latham told the jury of eight men and four women the judge ruled last week that all the documents, even those not deemed relevant, needed to be disclosed by today.

"We needed to satisfy a negative," Mr Latham said.
He said prosecutors realised this was not "logistically possible" in the timeframe given by the judge "when the full scale of the necessary exercise became apparent".

Mr Latham went on: "We have been driven to accept that it would be wholly unsatisfactory to call Mr Moore today or in the immediate future."

OfT director John Fingleton and OfT's director of cartels, Ali Nikpay, "must shoulder the personal responsibility for this fiasco", Ben Emmerson QC, defending BA's former head of communications, Iain Burns, said.

The part of the OfT responsible was "not fit for purpose", he added.

The OfT and prosecutors were "guilty of incompetence on a monumental scale", he said.

"The amount of public money that must have been wasted within the OfT itself, and the amount of money that's going to have to be spent on the costs of the defence, with the fact that they have, for a period of time, ruined the lives of these four men by mounting and then insisting on a ludicrous prosecution which was doomed to fail from the start."

Prosecutor Mr Latham was "indeed the sultan of spin", Mr Emmerson said.

He said Mr Latham "might be misrepresenting" today's conclusion as "no more than a tactical retreat" in order not to rule out the possibility of further action in the United States.

But Mr Emmerson said it was "disgraceful" to suggest this was a "technical acquittal".
"It's a shabby way to carry on," he said.
"This is a comprehensive defeat."

In response, Mr Latham said: "The platform for gratuitous abuse which has just been used is wholly unacceptable.
"Now it will be necessary for the Office to respond."

Prosecutors will respond tomorrow morning, when the court will also hear any applications for costs.
Outside court, Mr George, BA's former commercial director, said: "I'm delighted to leave court with my reputation unsullied.
"It's something that has been with us for four years.
"I have maintained my innocence since day one and I'm delighted that that's been confirmed today.
"Now, frankly, I want to get on with the rest of my life."

Asked about the OfT, he said he had no comment.

Sales and marketing director Mr Crawley said he was "relieved" and wanted to get "back to work".

DayAfter a écrit:La dénonciation est-elle acceptable...?

Les corbeaux ne font pas florès partout.

"Sultan of spin" : jolie trouvaille ! [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir cette image]
(Est-ce que Mark Knopfler sera content ?)

[Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] could face losing its immunity from penalties for alleged price-fixing activity after the UK Office of Fair Trading was forced to withdraw criminal proceedings against four former and current [Vous devez être inscrit et connecté pour voir ce lien] executives due to the late emergence of previously-undisclosed electronic evidence.

A jury at Southwark Crown Court in London today acquitted BA's current director of sales and marketing, Andrew Crawley, former head of UK and Ireland sales Alan Burnett, former commercial director Martin George and former head of corporate communications Iain Burns of cartel charges related to the price-fixing of fuel surcharges with Virgin Atlantic on long-haul passenger flights between July 2004 and April 2006.

Virgin Atlantic was granted immunity from penalties after it relayed details of the exchanges to the OFT. But the OFT says that last week it discovered "a substantial volume of electronic material, which neither the OFT nor the defence had previously been able to review" and, as a result of the late discovery, it accepts that "to continue with the trial in light of this unforeseen development would be potentially unfair to the defendants".

The previously-undisclosed material includes emails sent or received by Virgin Atlantic's former director of corporate affairs, Paul Moore. The OFT says it will now "be reviewing the role played by Virgin Atlantic and its advisers in light of the airline's obligations to provide the OFT with continuous and complete co-operation", adding that "this may have potential consequences for Virgin's immunity from penalties".

The OFT stresses that today's decision relates only to criminal proceedings against the four BA executives, and that it has "no reason to believe that the issues that have now arisen in those proceedings will have any impact on the OFT's civil case (save possibly as regards Virgin Atlantic's immunity), as this concerns the conduct of the companies involved rather than the alleged dishonesty of individuals".

BA Pilots: Please Stop Our Strike
In an unusual move, the British Airline Pilots’ Association is urging the new British government to step in to prevent extended strike at the airline, due to start again on May 18 when cabin crew plan to walk off work.
BALPA warns that the extent of the strike “will seriously threaten BA’s ability to maintain the job security and terms and conditions of employees in all parts of the company.”
Jim McAuslan, BALPA general secretary, is urging new Transport Minister Philip Hammond and Business Secretary Vince Cable, to “get Tony Woodley [general secretary of the Unite union] and Willie Walsh [BA’s CEO] together this weekend and get this strike suspended whilst a solution is hammered out.”
In a letter to the newly appointed ministers representing both the Conservative and Liberal Democrat parties in London’s coalition government, McAuslan says that “BA faces circumstances that pose a very serious threat to its future — the economic downturn associated with the credit crunch, sustained high fuel prices, an increase in competition in key markets, and volcanic ash causing airspace closures, to name but a few. BA pilots and other staff groups, that include members of Unite, have made significant concessions to help BA through such difficulties and it is for all groups within BA to deliver the contribution required in the company business plan.”
Tensions between Unite cabin crew and BALPA have been increasing in recent months. Some pilots have trained as cabin crew to help fill gaps and keep aircraft flying during the labor unrest. That has provoked anger by the cabin crew union.
McAuslan says the cabin crew action “undermines the interests of all employees who are members of BA’s final salary pension schemes, both of which are in deficit, and reaching a critical point in their triennial valuations.”
The cabin crew has called for four five-day work stoppages in the coming weeks. BA says it will try to transport at least 60% of passengers.