Company Watch - British Airways.

Nov 27, 2006

British Airways launched a review of its uniform policy on Friday after coming under heavy criticism for refusing to allow a staff member to wear a Christian cross over her uniform. Check-in staffer Nadia Eweida was told in October she must not display a small necklace crucifix. She was instead instructed to hide it under her blouse or cravat. The 55-year-old, who argued she should be entitled openly to proclaim her Christian faith, lost an internal appeal against the decision on Monday. The decision attracted widespread criticism from politicians and religious leaders, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, who said earlier on Friday the Church of England was reviewing its "whole attitude" towards the airline. Walsh said BA would study ways staff could openly wear symbols of faith, such as small lapel badges, while remaining consistent with the airline's brand and employment legislation. Nov 24, 2006

British Airways flew 9.58 billion RPKs in October, a 1.1% increase over the year-ago month. Capacity rose 0.8% to 12.78 billion ASKs and load factor was up 0.2 point to 74.9%. Nov 21, 2006

British Airways will launch service from London Gatwick to Port of Spain (thrice-weekly via Barbados aboard 777s), Dresden (daily aboard 737s) and Sarajevo (thrice-weekly aboard 737s) from March. At the same time, it will suspend flights from LGW to Athens, Kiev, Newcastle and Riga. BA reached a codeshare agreement with Caribbean Airlines, which will place its code on BA flights to Port of Spain, Barbados and Antigua. Nov 21, 2006

British Airways yielded to union concerns over its effort to raise the normal retirement age to 65 from 55 for aircrew and 60 for ground staff as part of a series of concessions required to tackle the [pounds sterling]2.1 billion deficit in the New Airways Pension Scheme. "The airline has now included the option of a normal retirement age of 60 in return for increased contribution rates," BA said. Contribution by aircrew will rise to 11.25% from 6.5% for the first five years and by ground staff to 10% from 5.25%. All rates will be 10% after five years. Meanwhile, the company will raise its annual contribution to [pounds sterling]272 million from [pounds sterling]235 million. "Staff can still choose not to pay extra but it will mean working longer to get the same pension," CFO Keith Williams said. Nov 20, 2006

Editor: Aram Gesar, eMail: [e-mail]

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Nov 13, 2006