[Age_of_Reason]

Those of us who work in corporate organisations are all-too familiar with the attention-seeking, credit-claiming, idea-thieving, teflon-shouldered type. Mentioning no names, but some well-known brands have disappeared or become shadows on their various watches. My share portfolio, dividend receipts and airmiles accounts reflect the syndrome perfectly. .

[Age_of_Reason]

2. Perhaps closer to subject …. One of the disturbing observations I make about BA policy towards its customers (or potential customers, more importantly) is the naive way in which BA offers London ‘connections’ which treat LHR, LGW and LCY as a single extended hub, without warning that the transfer is not arranged by BA, can be lengthy, and of significant additional cost .

To the London-familiar this is either useful, or amusing, but when a foreign travel consultant is conducting the enquiry, be very vigilant.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Delsurrey
The cartel operated under Walsh’s regime.

The £54m BA has agreed to pay for the anti-trust class action element is nearly double the average amount to be paid by the other airlines. This would indicate that BA paid a lead role in the crime.

Fines, penalties and compensation for BA’s price fixing have cost the company over one third of a BILLION pounds… and counting.

When the cost of the remaining class actions and fines in Europe/Worldwide are finally added in, BA is likely to have paid around half a BILLION pounds.

Again what actions have been taken against the culprits within BA who have caused this loss of between one third and one half a BILLION pounds?

http://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/British-Airways-pays-54m-tele-1284166587.html;_ylt=ApZ9Ax0C21VNSaTfm2kbqSQ3sLFG;_ylu=X3oDMTFjdWIwdTY1BHBvcwMzBHNlYwNyZWxhdGVkLWhlYWRsaW5lcwRzbGsDYnJpdGlzaGFpcndh?x=0&.v=1

[Hippocampus]

The article you linked to says the activity took place between 2000 and 2006. Willie Walsh joined BA as CEO in late 2005. So, yes, you are so right, Willie Walsh should be blamed for something that started over five years before he joined the company and ended shortly after he joined.

The settlements are likely to be proportional to any benefit gained and as BA is one of the world’s largest long haul carriers it is not surprising that it has paid one of the higher settlements.

But, still, carry on with your pathological obsession with vilifying one individual who had the courage to stand up to your militancy. Because that’s what this is really all about isn’t it?

[Tete_de_cuvee]

The corrupt practices continued under Walsh, so Hippo are you claiming either

– Walsh knew the corruption was going on and decided against being the whistleblower thus saving BA over £300million in fines? (Chances are the class action penalties would still have to be paid)

or

– Walsh was blindsided by his execs and didn’t have a clue what his senior team were doing – smacks of incompetent leadership?

Which executives, if any, were dismissed for these illegal practices which have already cost BA one third of a BILLION pounds and could rise to half a BILLION?

[Hippocampus]

I am certainly not suggesting a) If you want to suggest that you are welcome do to so. Just be prepared to defend it in court,

No CEO can be expected to know every single thing that happens in their organisations.

As I say you cannot drop your pathological obsession with Willie Walsh. Like spolit children you have never heard the word No before the continued tantrum and throwing of toys out if the pram is desperate and embarrassing to watch.

[Age_of_Reason]

When a company takes over another company it performs diligence checks, agrees a deal and moves forward. When a CEO is appointed, he takes over on the terms agreed. But the sins of the father are bequeathed to the son, there are no ‘exclusion clauses’ for the new Hercules. The Labours must be completed. If BA was an Augean Stable, it was WW job to cleanse it.

The outside observer would note that the confrontational behaviour wrt the staff issue put the cashflow at risk. So other sources of cashflow (Cargo perhaps?) were not challenged. Perhaps he chose to cleanse the wrong stable first?

WW clearly has strong qualities, and he has been promoted to release the BA position to another cleanser. Is that not a well-known management principle, Peter?

[pixelmeister]

Um the comment
‘2. Perhaps closer to subject …. One of the disturbing observations I make about BA policy towards its customers (or potential customers, more importantly) is the naive way in which BA offers London ‘connections’ which treat LHR, LGW and LCY as a single extended hub, without warning that the transfer is not arranged by BA, can be lengthy, and of significant additional cost .

To the London-familiar this is either useful, or amusing, but when a foreign travel consultant is conducting the enquiry, be very vigilant.
‘

is clearly written by someone who has never tried flying in to New York, where the choice between JFK, Newark and La Guardia can be equally as bad. As one who had the delights of flying in to La Guardia to then connect to JFK, the journey was not without challenges. Do you risk life and limb in a yellow cab where the driver may or may not know the way and if he/she does, the route may not be the optimum ? Do you really gamble and take the cross-town bus, a life changing experience in itself ? Or do you attempt to navigate the subway system for as far as it will take you and then resort to other means ? As for connecting to Newark, that is a whole new ball game. London with LCY, LHR and LGW is a picnic by comparison.

[Age_of_Reason]

Pixel – you are probably right, and your point is valid. One could also mention Moscow and Sofia as places where terminals of the same airport do not interconnect, never mind the hassle of the Sheremetyeva to Vnykova or Domo transfers. But I’ve never been offered through-booked flights requiring these transfers.

Which is my point – to be GOOD, a business must differentiate itself from its competitors, not console itself that because it’s not the worst, that must be OK and the customers will cope.

The customers will drift away from BA. (Have drifted ….?)

[craigwatson]

tete – this all happened well before WW took over, and within months of his appointment it stopped. Also you are very good at constantly repeating the figures for the fines but you seem to have forgotten one very important point… the extra profit they made in this 5-6 years probably comes close to the amount they have been fined, therefore the whole issue is moot.

[VintageKrug]

Sorry to disappoint, Age_of_Reason.

Customers are most certainly NOT drifting away from BA, as the May traffic stats set out below, there was a year on year 14% increase in revenue passenger kilometres (bums on seats to you and me).

http://www.iairgroup.com/phoenix.zhtml?c=240949&p=irol-rnsArticle_Print&ID=1570551&highlight=

[pixelmeister]

Umm… If you look at the load factors, they show a slight decline on last year – so whilst IAG as a group are carrying more bodies, the aircraft are bigger so the percentage of the aircraft that is full is down a smidge. Now a passenger perception might as a consequence be that IAG are carrying fewer passengers.

A better measure of how well the group are doing is looking at the YTD comparative figures. These show an 11% increase in RPKs .

If you want to get fussy about number of passengers carried, look at that stat. YTD is running at 6.7% up on previous year and May was 6.4% up on same time last year. The areas that show a drop are Domestic routes for both airlines – hardly surprising in the current economic climate. What is noticeable is the upswing in North America, LACAR and AsiaPac. Transatlantic has always been a key money earner for BA so this is good news.

[Tete_de_cuvee]

Craig

Walsh shadowed Rod Eddington in the CEO role from May 2005. The fraud was discovered around a year later.

Had Walsh known of the fraud, he could have blown the whistle and saved BA around one third of a BILLION pounds in fines.

The fraud stopped because it was discovered and prosecuted, I am not aware of any evidence that Walsh chose (or could have chosen) to end the fraud prior to it being discovered.

BA will have lost around half a BILLION on this fraud. The class action would have compensated the customers for their losses plus punitive damages, plus significant legal costs. But in addition to repaying customers and punitive damages, BA has been fined nearly £300 million by the courts and counting.

Given BA admitted guilt, it would not be unreasonable for BA to have settled the larger cargo account frauds directly with the counterpart outside the class action and away from press coverage.

The real concern is believing a global agreement (illegal) between 13 airlines could be hidden from Walsh and BA’s internal control and auditors.

Plus where is the evidence that once Walsh knew of the fraud, he has made any effort to cleanse BA of the corrupt individuals that have caused BA to lose around half a BILLION pounds and discipline those who were knowledgeable bystanders?

[Age_of_Reason]

On BA figures…. I’m not in the business and don’t even know what LACAR stands for. I’m just letting anyone who’s analysing know, that I’m flying more sectors and less BA, and all my flights are between points served by BA.

The europaean and middle-eastern competition is providing better connectivity than BA, especially to UK non-London destinations. I and 20 or so colleagues spending around £60k monthly are not avoiding BA, We’re just not being served, Sir.

[VintageKrug]

Sorry to disappoint yet again, Age_of_Reason, but the world does not revolve around you.

Passenger numbers, and especially premium passengers, are on the up, and that demonstrates the validity of Walsh’s strategy.

It is not prudent for BA to serve every route (especially regional routes, though it does so with its codeshares and 15% stake in flybe) and it’s right that it focuses on better quality business, especially while London is slot space constrained; it is overwhelmingly margin not volume which generates profits.

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