BA Merger With Iberia

It was announced today that BA may merge with Iberia, if a satisfactory resolution to BA's £2.6BN pension fund deficit can be found.

In the event that the merger does actually take place, I wonder what will happen to the price of flights to Spain?

See two articles I wrote in 2007:

The World's Costliest Airline

The World's Costliest Airline II

Will the consumer really benefit from this merger?

Why Fly BA?

Today the Money Blog asks whether there is any point in flying BA – or any premium airline for that matter – any more.

BA Scraps Short Haul Meals

The BBC reports that British Airways is to scrap all free meals, except breakfast, on its short-haul flights to save £22M a year.

Passengers on flights after 10am, which last less than two-and-half hours, will only be served drinks and snacks. They will not have the option to buy food.

A BA spokesman claimed that:

"When you fly with British Airways, the in-flight catering is top-class."

Piffle!

I draw BA's attention to my experiences with their "top-class" catering, as outlined on this site in earlier articles and on my Restaurant Review site as well.

As ever, when a company runs into financial difficulties, it is the customer who suffers.

Stormy Weather

I doubt that Unite, the BA staff union, will be that impressed by this report in today's The Times:

"The entire 11-member board of British Airways has agreed to work for nothing next month but is clinging to the free, unlimited, first-class travel perk granted to all past and present senior directors and their spouses for life."

Lamentable Timekeeping

BA's time keeping remains at its normal lamentable standard, as my girlfriend and her fellow passengers waiting on board their 13:50 London to Stockholm flight on Wednesday can attest to.

The passengers waited in the plane for around 45 minutes or so, as there seemed to be some confusion on the flight deck as to how much fuel the plane was carrying.

Price Fixing Refund

The Times reports that:

"Thousands of long-haul passengers affected by price-fixing by British Airways and Virgin Atlantic are finally set for a refund after three passengers dropped a challenge to a £73.5 million deal struck with the airlines by American class-action lawyers."

Prepare for Turbulence

It looks like there may be some staff issues ahead within BA, as Willie Walsh seeks to impose a 1% pay rise.

Doubtless it will be the long suffering passengers who have to end up weathering the forthcoming storm.

Special Privileges

The Times reports the following:

"The heads of several big companies that called for a third runway at Heathrow are members of a confidential British Airways club of elite businessmen who receive special favours.

They are served by a team of BA staff who cater for their every need. Other passengers are sometimes bumped off flights to make way for them, according to a BA source. Staff meet members at the aircraft door to fast-track them through immigration and flights are sometimes held to ensure they make their connections.

The only way to become a member is by personal invitation from either Willie Walsh, chief executive of BA, or Martin Broughton, the chairman. No one can earn the right to join by frequent flying.

Members get a black Premier card and distinctive black luggage tags, which BA staff are trained to look out for."

I am sure that being given the Premier card didn't influence them in the slightest.

Smelly Passengers

The Independent published this rather interesting item today:

"British Airways staff have criticised passengers as "smelly and annoying" and condemned the opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 as a disaster.

According to comments on a Facebook page created by "London Gatwick Ground Staff", their biggest hate is travellers who put boarding passes in their mouths before handing them over at the departure gate.

One staff member criticises smelly passengers and celebrity fliers, while another vents his anger at Americans.

The postings on the social networking site, which is a closed group that only BA staff can join after being vetted by the organisers, include one by an apparent employee called "Deepa", who moans (complete with vernacular grammar and spellings): "They ask which gate with their stupid American accent – aaargggh!! Its soooo annoying!!!!" Another member of staff, named as "Suely", complains about "smelly passengers" and "snotty" celebrities.

The site also lampoons the chaotic opening of Terminal 5 (T5) in March.

It contains a link to a game in which Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, is shown struggling with the baggage system at Terminal 5 and being hit by a succession of trolleys.

More than 36,000 passengers were hit by "multiple problems" on T5's day of opening. Flights were cancelled, massive queues built up and 23,000 bags had to be sorted by hand after the long-awaited opening of the £4.3bn terminal descended into chaos.

Disillusioned BA staff have also uploaded a video of a song containing the lyrics: "You can shove this terminal up your arse."

The revelations came two weeks after 13 Virgin Atlantic staff were sacked after describing their passengers as "Chavs" on their Facebook page. BA has launched an investigation into the postings. A spokesman refused to discuss whether disciplinary action would be taken. He said: "We will be talking to the individuals concerned about their disappointing and unwise comments, which are totally unrepresentative of the vast number of hard working ground staff we employ at Gatwick."

A scathing report by MPs today chimes with some of the BA employees' views, concluding that a catalogue of blunders turned T5's opening into a "national embarrassment".

The Commons transport select committee put the blame jointly on British Airways and on the airport operator BAA, which it said should be stripped of its monopoly over airports in the South of England.

It said: "What should have been an occasion of national pride was in fact an occasion of national embarrassment. When the baggage system failed, luggage piled up to such an extent that it was transported by road to be sorted off-site. According to BA, 23,205 bags required manual sorting before being returned to their owners."

The MPs blamed the shambles on inadequate communication between BA and BAA and poor staff training by BA. Louise Ellman, the committee's chairman, said: "We were struck by how much 'hoping for the best' BAA had engaged in prior to the opening of T5.

"We are glad BAA and BA have now taken measures to improve their communications but it is deeply regrettable these steps were not taken before the opening."

Given the credit crunch, the lousy first few weeks of T5 and BA's ongoing issues wrt late/cancelled flights and lost bags I doubt that the staff will have too many passengers ("smelly" or otherwise) to worry about/be annoyed by in the future.

BA Fined For Price Fixing

BA have been fined £2M by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) for price fixing international air cargo fares between 2002 and 2006.

Source The Times.