Militant era looms for Unite with election of hard-liner November 22, 2010 THE UK’s biggest union, Unite, has elected a new leader reported to have said that “there is no such thing as an irresponsible strike”. Len McCluskey, currently assistant general secretary, was elected on a 16 per cent turnout, winning 101,000 votes – nearly double that of his nearest rival. The vote, to be announced formally [...]
CITY VIEWS: ARE AIRLINE MERGERS THE ONLY WAY THAT THE LIKES OF BRITISH AIRWAYS CAN SURVIVE? April 12, 2010 FRANK EGER | GLOBAL BULK CARRIERS “I think more mergers are inevitable given the increasing oil and transportation costs. Bigger is better these days, but it was a bad move for British Airways. They shouldn’t have merged with Iberia but somebody like Lufthansa, which is a profitable company. ” RYAN PIPER | GRANT THORNTON “Margins [...]
Qantas chief says he’s not interested in a BA merger September 22, 2010 Australia’s Qantas Airways is not keen on reviving merger talks with British Airways and is instead focused on chasing organic growth in Asia, Qantas chief executive Alan Joyce said yesterday. British Airways chief executive Willie Walsh is keen on reopening merger talks with Qantas if the Australian carrier was interested. “Been there, done that,” Joyce [...]
British Airways sees dip in passenger numbers after March cabin crew strike April 7, 2010 BRITISH Airways saw a double-digit drop in passenger numbers in March after the airline faced disruption from seven days of strikes by cabin crew. Passenger traffic dipped by 11.4 per cent last month, while passenger capacity dropped 13.7 per cent. BA said the walkout affected traffic numbers, which are measured in revenue per passenger kilometre [...]
Rolls-Royce chief retires September 30, 2010 Rolls-Royce’s chief executive Sir John Rose is to retire after 14 years at the helm of the engine-maker. Sir John, who has been with the company for almost three decades, will be succeeded by John Rishton, currently chief executive of the Dutch retail giant Ahold. Rishton is also a former chief financial officer at British [...]
Jet deal lifts Rolls-Royce November 22, 2010 EMBATTLED?jet engine maker Rolls-Royce got a much-needed boost yesterday from a $1.8bn (£1.13bn) order from Air China, only weeks after one of its engines exploded on an Airbus super-jumbo. Rolls, which is facing potential compensation claims after a Trent 900 engine broke up in mid-air on an Airbus A380, said the airline was buying engines [...]
BA back in the black October 29, 2010 British Airways expects to deliver further growth in 2011 after posting its first profit in two years, helped by cost cutting and improved demand for premium class travel in the first half. BA, whose merger with Spain’s Iberia completes in January, on Friday reported a pretax profit of £158m for the six months to September [...]
Big banks top High Court appearances October 3, 2010 THE UK’S largest four banks were repeatedly in court last year as the number of High Court cases involving FTSE 100 companies jumped by 16 per cent. Lloyds Banking Group, Barclays, the Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and HSBC collectively made up 43 per cent of all High Court appearances by the UK’s largest companies, [...]
BA’s chairman attacks security checks in US October 26, 2010 THE chairman of British Airways has attacked US airport security checks and has called for the UK to stop “kowtowing” to US security demands. Practices such as forcing people to take off their shoes, and checking laptops separately, should be abandoned, Martin Broughton said. Speaking at the UK Airport Operators’ Association annual conference, Broughton – [...]
Stocks set to edge higher after G20 finance pact October 24, 2010 The opening call this morning is for stock markets to trade higher following news at the weekend of an agreement being reached between the G20 finance ministers at their meeting in Seoul, to refrain from the “competitive devaluation” of their currencies. GFT is quoting the FTSE 100 index to open up 20 points from Friday’s [...]