BRITISH AIRWAYS suffered another quarter of losses as it was hit by cabin crew strikes and the volcanic ash cloud that closed large swathes of European airspace for six days in April.
After losing close to £1 billion (€1.2 billion) in the past two years, the carrier said pretax losses for the three months to the end of June were £164 million (€197.1 million). Losses in the same period last year were £148 million.
Other airlines were affected by the ash, with Ryanair and EasyJet reporting related losses in the tens of millions of pounds, but only BA had to cope with lengthy strikes. Chief executive Willie Walsh said the disruptions caused losses of £250 million in the quarter.
New talks may take place between BA and the Unite union in the long-running dispute over cabin crew staffing and pay. The airline had made what it called a final offer earlier this month, which was rejected by the union.
Putting aside the ash cloud and industrial action, Mr Walsh said the company’s underlying financial performance had improved: “The trends in our passenger and cargo traffic continue to be positive, with yields up and costs down.” Revenues for the quarter fell 2.3 per cent from the same period the year before to £1.94 billion. The operating loss narrowed to £72 million from £94 million.
Analysts expect BA to return to a small profit this financial year, but none predicts the sort of results seen immediately before the recession. In 2008 the airline reported record pretax profits of £922 million. – (Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2010)
