BA boss slams Hollywood stars as "gutless cowards"
A novel way to drum up trade, but I can't help but agree with his sentiment-
LONDON, Nov 8 (Reuters) - The chief executive of British Airways Plc (LSE: BAY.L - news) has branded Hollywood's film celebrities "gutless cowards" for being scared to fly since the September 11 attacks on the United States, a British newspaper said on Thursday.
"They want everyone to see their movies and think how big and brave they are. But at the first sign of trouble they cower under their beds like gutless cowards. It's pathetic," BA chief executive Rod Eddington was quoted as saying in the Mirror.
Eddington praised New Yorkers, who he said had started flying again, but attacked U.S. celebrities saying they had "retired to their mansions" when they should be acting as role models encouraging the public to take to the skies again.
Eddington made the outspoken comments as the world's fastest passenger jet, the supersonic Concorde, returned to service on Wednesday.
A number of British personalities, including pop star Sting and broadcaster David Frost, were among those on the first British Airways Concorde flight to New York since an Air France Concorde crashed shortly after takeoff from Paris last year.
Demand for air travel worldwide has plummeted since hijacked airliners crashed into New York's World Trade Center and the Pentagon in Washington on September 11, plunging the airline industry into crisis.
Airlines have announced massive job cuts and BA, which earns most of its profits from transatlantic travel, announced on Tuesday that it was losing two million pounds ($2.93 million) a day.