BA Returns to Profits after Two Years of Losses         

29th October 2010

BA report better than expected results

Following two years of losses BA managed to produce a profit of £158 million which was well in excess of expectations. Given the six months to 30th September 2010 included the cabin crew strike and the ash cloud disruption these figures augur well for the future.

For the same period last year the company made losses of £292 million and this is quite a turnaround in performance. This was also achieved with a drop in capacity of 6.2% but an improvement in passenger revenue of 8.4% suggesting that more business class seats were purchased.

Willie Walsh the new Chief Executive of the combined BA/Iberia merger stated that continued focus on cost management and making working practices as flexible as possible would continue and that the new cabin crew working under the new terms and conditions would begin flying on Monday.

The merger should be in place by January 2011 and it is hoped that synergies will continue to drive up profits over the coming years al;though the recently annouced Airport Travellers Tax threatens to undermine these efforts.

The cabin crew strikes would now appear to be behind them having agreed to return perks subject to a good behavior clause for the next 3 years.