Airline passenger news and views
07 February 2012 | Sign In
The end of BA merger plans?
|
Eugene Gold Sunday 21 March 2010 |
Prior to the current spate of union and strike problems, British Airways was actively pursing alliance and semi-merger deals including the long vaunted one with Iberia.
BA was clearly conscious of the increasing threat posed by airline groups such as Air France-KLM and Lufthansa as well as the potential strategic synergies and cost savings. The logic of cooperation is well established and, if properly managed, allows the individual airlines to retain their heritage and brand identity whilst creating the strength to compete in the even more challenging market.
The problem for Willie Walsh is that other airlines may no longer want to be associated with BA. If the rumours are true, the Unite union in the UK is ganging up with unions in Europe and the USA to pull the company down. Whilst Iberia may have sympathy for BA and also may recognize the warning in the Joan Baez song “There but for fortune …” they really do not want to get sucked into a dispute that is not of their making.
If BA can survive then next few months, and that is fast becoming a real question, should it abandon the merger trail? For many passengers, the benefits are either non-existent or non-apparent. The food is still the same, the legroom is not going to increase, and the cattle prodding at the airport will continue to be outside of the airline’s control.
If Willie Walsh is still in control in the summer and if there is anything for him to control, it might be better to focus his attention on making the airline attractive to its own customers.
| Comments | Post a comment |
I really do not think that the strike will have any long-term effect. This is more about union power in the face of the election than anything to do with the airline. BA were just the wrong company at the wrong time. | |
| Rating (0) | |
|
Emma Turk, Norfolk, UK 17 April 2010, 02:54PM | |
I would be better to de-merge BA rather than to let them have more mergers. British Caledonian used to be great until BA took it over. | |
| Rating (0) | |
|
Colin Firth, Crewe, UK 18 April 2010, 06:14PM | |
BA want the American Airline deal. That is what they have wanted for a long time now. I do not see them giving up. Even if they have to pay more than they would like to, they will go for it. It is time that someone sensible took over and concentrated on running an airline rather than building an empire. People used to fly BA with pride because it was the so called Flag Carrier. It was British Airways when being British meant something. Even calling it BA is a dilution of what the airline used to represent. | |
| Rating (0) | |
