Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways, offered a bleak assessment recently that the worst of the recession was still ahead for the global airline industry. Walsh said BA had planned “on the assumption of a 24-month downturn, and we have seen nothing yet to persuadeus we are over-pessimisticâ€Â. “Though some of the financial markets may be looking better, I believe that for airlines, the worst of this recession is still ahead of us.†He added that a … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: BA chief warns worst of recession still ahead
British Airways
EUROPE & CIS: BA chief warns worst of recession still ahead
Willie Walsh, chief executive of British Airways, offered a bleak assessment recently that the worst of the recession was still ahead for the global airline industry. Walsh said BA had planned “on the assumption of a 24-month downturn, and we have seen nothing yet to persuadeus we are over-pessimisticâ€Â. “Though some of the financial markets may be looking better, I believe that for airlines, the worst of this recession is still ahead of us.†He added that a … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: BA chief warns worst of recession still ahead
EUROPE & CIS: BA may ditch OpenSkies as transatlantic suffers
British Airways is considering ditching its OpenSkies subsidiary, which operates flights from Paris and Amsterdam to the US, as a direct result of the ongoing severe slump in the global economy and resultant slowdown in air travel. The BA subsidiary was named after the 2008 treaty, signed by the US and EU after years of negotiations, and was launched last summer. … [Read more...] about EUROPE & CIS: BA may ditch OpenSkies as transatlantic suffers
Russia’s S7 Airlines joins oneworld alliance
Russian domestic airline, S7 Airlines, is to join global airline alliance, oneworld. The carrier was unanimously elected on board by the grouping’s existing ten member airlines and will become part of oneworld, offering the alliance’s full range of services, benefits and fares, during 2010. As a first step, its network will be added from 1 June to the Global Explorer round-the-world fare offered by all oneworld member airlines and selected carriers that are not part of the … [Read more...] about Russia’s S7 Airlines joins oneworld alliance
BA posts record losses
British Airways has reported a record £401 million (US$640 million) pre-tax loss in the fiscal year 2008 ending 31 March on the back of last year’s record high fuel prices and slumping demand later in the year as the global economy stalled. BA full-year revenue was up 2.7 per cent, but fell 8 per cent in the fourth quarter, the first decline since 2007. The carriers’ cargo division, BA World Cargo reported commercial revenue (flown revenue plus fuel surcharges) of … [Read more...] about BA posts record losses
RR rushes to find Trent 777 icing solution
Rolls-Royce is working to find a modification to its Trent 800 engine following recommendations by the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch (AAIB). A second interim report on last year's crash of a British Airways Boeing 777-200 at London Heathrow said modifications were necessary to reduce the risk of ice in fuel lines which the AAIB suspected causing a flow restriction and thrust rollback of the Trent engines. The AAIB recommended that regulatory authorities make mandatory any measures Boeing … [Read more...] about RR rushes to find Trent 777 icing solution
