Recent problems with the new T5 Terminal at Heathrow have resulted in more problems for BA when will they recover their No1 position.

from Reuters at 11:49 today ....

The boards of British Airways and Spain's Iberia are holding separate board meetings to consider a merger to create the world's third largest airline by revenue, they said on Thursday.
"Further to recent market speculation, British Airways confirms that the British Airways and Iberia Boards are holding separate meetings today, 12 November, to consider a potential transaction," BA said in a statement.
"However, no decisions have been taken and, at this time, there can be no guarantee that a transaction will be forthcoming. A further announcement will be made in due course, if appropriate."
Iberia also said it had taken no decision on the potential deal and there was no guarantee a transaction would take place.

looks as though it's a done deal, even though not officially confirmed ...... deep fried shorters are today's tasty special!!

MADRID, Nov 12 (Reuters) 13:56 - Spanish airline Iberia's board has approved a merger with British Airways , El Pais reported on its website on Thursday.
Iberia chairman Antonio Vazquez will be chairman of the new company, whose headquarters will be in London, the newspaper said.
Iberia declined to comment on the report.

Someone on the FT site said "possibly time to short BAY based on 'Buy on rumour, sell on fact'.
The reply came back "if you want to sell the news on a confirmed merger, be my guest!"

BA+IBERIA= 1 LARGE DUD LOSSMAKING AIRLINE, this merger solves none of their problems, it merely delays the inevitable.

hello Happy Larry ..... does that mean you are shorting BAY? ..... a lot of what you write is good stuff, but sometimes, as here, you talk as big a load of codswallop as i do!

per the 5 year chart below, 240 would look to be the immediate short term obstacle, with 280 etc as and when or if sp gets that far

some more stuff via Reuters


Following are some key facts about the potential new carrier:
-- Aircraft: 408 aircraft (BA 244; Iberia 164*)
-- Destinations: 259 airports (BA 150; Iberia 109)
-- Passengers per year: 61.5 million (33 million, Iberia 28.5 million*)
-- Staff: 63,600 (BA 42,000; Iberia 21,600)

-- Turnover (2009E**): $21.65 billion (BA 8.9 bln stg; Iberia 4.6 bln eur)
-- Pretax profit (2009E**): BA 401 mln stg pretax loss; Iberia 228.8 mln euro loss)


RATIONALE
-- Greater financial muscle and more routes to compete with European giants Air France-KLM and Lufthansa
-- Cost savings and greater buying power on fuel, aircraft, IT and other products that analysts estimate is worth some 550 million euros a year through to 2015.
-- Very few overlapping routes. Iberia has the biggest share of the Europe-Latin America market, while BA is the leading airline on North Atlantic routes and has strong Europe-Asia connections

-- Ends BA's two-year chase for Iberia. Fulfils Iberia's long-time desire for consolidation

while the above by no means solves all the underlying problems, it goes a long way towards doing so, and that is before the inevitable consolidation of personnel etc and other significant savings through economy of scale

meanwhile, as the recesssion seems to be drawing to a close, there will be an increase in air traffic as the months pass - i.e. look 12 months hence

I don't really care about the outcome - but I've taken 10 points from these today.

Another classic disaster in the making.... bigger is not better.

no one said it was .... did you have a bad oyster at lunchtime?

And another +3 short.

i would have liked to have seen sp stay above 220, but never mind ..... i shall continue to hold for the time being and shall see what the press has to say ..... overall, i should think it will be quite positive, both for the merger itself and for air traffic outlook in general

m8 halifax has gone all huffy-puffy about BAY, but that is similarly true of TLW ..... not that all my faves come up smelling of roses by any means, but it's fun to tease the shoddy-maker

cynic sticks and stones etc. do try to act your assumed age.

don't be so dull even though i know many yorkshiremen find it difficult to be more cheery than dour at best .... anyway, i like being peter pan or being in second childhood - i don't really differentiate

thought you might decide to expound on the ancient craft of shoddy-making, but clearly not

BA has been badly managed since Lord King retired,we now have a CEO used to running a small Irish airline but over the past 4 years has proved incapable of solving the ever increasing problems. Do we really think a merger with a Spanish airline is going to solve these problems especially after the debacle with the opening of terminal 5 and the way the Spanish run BAA?

The solution is obvious, downsize the airline, focus on the high net worth business and leave the dross to Easyjet and Ryanair. The proposed merger will not solve the union problems and huge retrenchment will cost the merged company more than shareholders can afford when both airlines are loss making.

we shall see .... meanwhile, if sp rises merely because it's a full moon, i shall not care

btw, i would never ever fly Ryanair having seen the appalling way it treats its customers and does its very best to avoid and evade tackling problems they (the customers) may have - e.g. lost luggage and similar ..... that man (whatever his name) is a disgrace, and no doubt in due course all will come home to roost

cynic why should the Irish treat the British any other way?

the specific guy concerned - a friend of mine - is actually half Scottish and half Danish!
to get Ryanair to compensate for sending his golf clubs to Las Palmas instead of Prestwick, he ultimately had to take out a Small Claims action in Dublin ..... Ryanair then crumbled instantly

cynic and you don,t know his name?

can't be bothered to look it up