Here are the finantial results for the past years, according to IAG website, before the merger with BA. A link has been provided so you can check them. It seems to me that the only bad year was 2009.
Full results IB 2010: 89 M
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...ual_Report.pdf
Full results IB 2009: -273 M
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...es/PQ42009.pdf
Full results IB 2008: 32 M
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...entacionQ4.pdf
Full results IB 2007: 327.6 M
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...llyear2007.pdf
Full results IB 2006: 57.0 M
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...lQ42006ing.pdf
Full results IB 2005: 395.6 M
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...s/Year2005.pdf
Full results IB 2004: 218.4 M
http://media.corporate-ir.net/media_...s/Year2004.pdf
Here is also the IAG corporate website where you can find other presentations.
IAG - International Airlines Group - Annual Reports
These are facts. If you ask me about my opinion I think that IB management and employees have failed to modernise the company while they had the chance (meaning time and cash).
But on the other hand, there are several factors which contribute to IB current situation. Of course the country's economy has played a major role, but one has to wonder if transferring bulk routes to Iberia Express, slashing connections with major european and South American capitals, delaying orders for more efficient aircraft, has nothing to do with the company economic woes.
For me it's faily simple to play with company numbers to make it look worse than it is. I mean, airlines always play with numbers to make them look better than they are when they present their year results, so why not the other way around?
It's not about IB vs BA, but use your imagination. IB has not hired almost anybody for 10 years, so every pilot and cabin crew has gained seniority and thus they become more expensive. Companies usually deal with this by growing, as we all know this is after all a capacity bussiness, and retiring older employees. They simply cannot layoff people because they get expensive... Unless the law changed and permited companies just do that on the basis of operating losses. Well that happened last year, so in my opinion (humble as it is) the management got a
carte blanche to do whatever they like. You can find lots of proposals from SEPLA to make cuts in the past few years, sone of the audited by big firms, but the management simply refused them. It seems that their only interest is to shrink IB.
There are clauses on the merger agreements that allow the biggest company to gain control on IAG by 2015. It may sound ridiculous for some of you that SEPLA it's denouncing a 'takeover' of IB by BA, but consider what IB has gained with the merger. They had the chance to improve the product, renew their fleet, grow in latin america and open new markets, but since the merger little investment has come to IB, and now the company is the bad boy.