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

from reading further reports, i suspect that an mo will be found whereby the airlines can operate genuinely safely, but how quickly that can be implemented remains to be seen .... don't forget, it is economically vital that some sort of solution is found, as the problem has worldwide implications

BA says Icelandic volcano costing 15m- 20m a day
Business Financial Newswire
British Airways estimates that the lost passenger and freight revenue together with the costs incurred on supporting passengers as a result of the Icelandic volanic eruption is approximately 15-20m a day.

The company says it has significant funding available to it to sustain a considerable period of closure of the UK's airspace.

At the start of the flying restrictions on April 14, 2010 it had more than 1.7bn cash and more than 400m available credit lines which it can draw on if necessary.

Chief Executive Willie Walsh adds that British Airways is one of European airlines to have asked the EU and national governments for financial compensation for the closure of airspace.

He says there is a precedent for this to happen as compensation was paid after the closure of US airspace following the terrorist events of 9/11 and clearly the impact of the current situation is more considerable.

Walsh says: "We welcome the EU's initiative to address the economic consequences of the airspace closure on the air travel industry and the wider European economy.

"We are also in touch with the UK government which has set up a group to work on this issue as it recognises the impact on airlines and the contribution that aviation makes to the British economy."

So BA reckon the volcano is costing them 15ml + a daythey might have 1.7bn cashbut a couple of months could make a mighty hole in that
I wonder if the union will see their bargaining position could be a great deal strongeraccording to an expert volcanologist the eruption continues with its current explosive vigour. So long as an ash column rises nearly 10km high, it will be problematic. The volcano could continue erupting for months according to scientists?.Willie Walsh denied trying to brake the union Unite.I expect Unite will now deny trying to brake him at a latter dateI know who looks stronger now!down 10.5p and still falling.thats what you get for being an arrogant sh*t!.

disagree ..... like him or not WW is absolutely right in this instance ..... BA staff seriously o'paid compared to all other airlines

Cynic and so is Willie Walsh.the man is a sh*this uncompromising leadership does not include personal participation to help the companysome of his achievements lol :- British Airways has been fined about 270m after it admitted collusion in fixing the prices of fuel surcharges.British Airways has plunged to a record pre-tax loss of 292mWillie Walsh warned BA's 38,690 staff that the airline's worst first half results since privatisationBA said it intends to cut a further 3,000 jobs over the next six months Willie Walsh in BA's annual report show his 700,000 basic salary will increase to 735,000 next month and could add a bonus of over 1millionfor Slashing BA to short-term profit giving him imaginary success force your staff with redundancy threats and whose workloads you have doubled and salaries you have frozenUsher in new low-paid poorly skilled staff who have no respect for the company down goes quality down goes the reputation... up go the complaints the birth of another rubbish companyits all there Cynicand he has done it before

i take it you are current or former BA employee

CynicI get a nose bleed within ten mile of an airportI am scared of planesand have never flownluckily Im driving to the SOF beginning of Maythe channel tunnel hopefullywill be free of ash

Willie Walsh went to a school that taught him to take what he can getwhile he can get itand that is the limit of his educationI can talk?

where in SoF? .... i am a fan of provence and have taken a villa in Roussillon (near Gordes) ..... usually take on in Maussanne

La Napoulewhich is about 3-4 miles along the coast from Canneswe have stayed at Mouginsand Theoule-Sur-Mar beforejust the most beautiful places in the Worldand a nice race trackHippodrome at Cagnes-sur-Mer I didnt think you like that coast Cynichad this conversation with you beforeI believe?we love the coastal drive from La Lavandu to Menton just mind blowing

mougins is just about ok, but doesn't do much for me, but cannes is vile - like blackpool on a bad day and its much-hyped covered market a load of rubbish ..... from cagnes and east towards italy becomes much nicer - villefranche is lovely for lunch, even if very touristy

Cynicwe have French friends that enjoy their food same as uswe mix genteel with the occasional partyCannes is fantastic in the eveningespecially during the festival.but does have a MacDonalds and many crass novelty shopsas well as very many expensive and exclusive shopsyou pick your time and placeI do know a place that you would lovewon village of the year a least oncestill in Provence.Bormes-Les-Mimoses...high upit is like walking round a kaleidoscope of colourwith Bougainvillea cascading everywhere who gives a sh*t about Willie Walsh!

scarcely provence that place! .... surely more alpes maritime, but as you say, it's up in the hills and certainly once you get away from the coastal drag, it really is lovely .... good walking up there too by the looks of it

Cynicit is Provencethe spelling is Bormes-Les-MimosasWestern end of the Massif des Maures.. high up but fairly close to the coast

Hopes rise of easing Europe flight chaos

Airspace in Scotland, Northern Ireland and parts of northern England is due to reopen on Tuesday after days of travel chaos caused by a volcanic ash cloud.

tabby - i know exactly where it is; just surprised that was classed as provence - very pedantic of me!

BA strike: Ban lifted by High Court

Fresh BA strikes look set to go ahead after a panel of senior judges, including the Lord Chief Justice, overturned a ban on industrial action.

BA posts record 531m loss


British Airways woes continue as the strike-bound airline has posted a record loss before tax of 531m for the year to 31 March 2010 ( 2009 Loss 401m).

Revenue was down 1 billion to 7,994m (2009: 8,992m) and although fuel costs were 597m lower and other operating costs were down 390m, this was a second consecutive year of record losses.

Group revenue in Q 4 was down 4.7 per cent to just under 1.9bn with operating costs down 11.4 per cent to 2bn. This resulted in an operating loss for the quarter of 145m, an improvement of 164m from quarter 4 in the previous year.

I guess Derek is on twitter :-)

British Airways, Unite Enter Latest Round Of Talks
By Kaveri Niththyananthan

Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES

LONDON (Dow Jones)

British Airways PLC (BAY.LN) and Unite, the union representing cabin crew, resumed talks Friday in their latest attempt to come to an agreement and end strikes that have hit the U.K. airline.

Derek Simpson, Unite's joint general secretary will be negotiating on behalf of cabin crew but BA declined to comment on whether its Chief Executive Officer Willie Walsh would be taking part.

Discussions are taking place at a secret location to avoid a repeat of last weekend's events, when protesters stormed a building and forced both sides to shelve talks.

BA and Unite have been in dispute for 15 months over changes to working practices and tensions flared recently after the carrier removed travel perks for those cabin crew who joined the picket lines. Cabin crew Friday entered the final day of the first of three planned five-day stoppages.

had an interesting chat with the cabin steward on my last flight ...... inter alia, though he would not strike, he knew that it was quite possible that he would be personally targetted (at home) for abuse ..... he also said that though staff did not have to join the union, it was quite difficult not to, not least because when you join BA there are swathes of paper to be signed, and in this instance, (i'ld guess) you probably have to actively opt out

bet he was queer as well want he :-)