British Airways in merger talks with Qantas (merged)

[captainspeaking]

BA Press Release received 13:00 local today

"In response to recent media speculation, British Airways Plc confirms that it is exploring a potential merger with Qantas Airways Limited via a dual-listed company structure.

The discussions between British Airways and Iberia are continuing.

There is no guarantee that any transaction will be forthcoming and a further announcement will be made in due course, if appropriate."

Presumably the model would be similar to Air France / KLM

[leemind]

Don't know if this is news to you boys & girls on the inside, but it just flicked up on Bloomberg

BA up 16% on the news...

[Goffee]

leemind - bugger - beat me to it!

Could put several cats among many pigeons.

[beamender99]

BBC TV also reporting it on lunchtime news

and
BBC NEWS | Business | BA is in merger talks with Qantas


and a statement from Waterworld
British Airways - Press Office

[Mick Stability]

Has Branson moaned yet?

[Raggyman]

Would be very supprised if they would be allowed by the Bristish and Australian government to go ahead with it.

Will never fly Qantas or BA again. What caused me to drop them completely was the lack of customer service and attention. To me, Qantas use to be alot different, and proud of the service they provide. Now, it is the same as BA. Don't get me wrong, pilots have been absolutely brillant, just a shame about the cabin staff.

I use to always fly qantas, until I had to catch BA flights from the North East UK for our honey moon back home to Oz. Got in early to make sure we had good seats, wasn't until we got on the plane that we found out we were across the aisle from each other. Would rather walk than catch a BA flight.

Talking to alot of other Australian's here in the UK, and most of them fly other airlines, who use to solely fly Qantas. Will be interesting if the merger does go ahead to see how much their market share is going to fall and I doubt gain.

[cameronaj]

BA/Qantas merger

What will be different? Surely they've been cosying up when it comes to the (high) pricing of their Australia/UK flights for yonks!

[renfrew]

The partnership has been going since 1934 and it would be a pity if Qantas was now taken over by someone else.
It will be interesting to see how Iberia and American fit in.

[Andy_S]

Would be very supprised if they would be allowed by the Bristish and Australian government to go ahead with it.

Since neither BA or Qantas is state owned or controlled, I can't see that either government has a veto.

[pax britanica]

Not sure about BA and Qantas other than the obvious cooperation on the old Kangaroo route. BA might not get as much out of that as Qantas though (think BA shorthaul (feeder/distribution) network serves a continent of 350million people QANTAS serves a continent of 24 million. In addition both have their hubs at the wrong extremity of the intercontinental sections.ie you get off at the last stop on the line and retrace your steps in both cases.
BA Iberia is differnt, Iberia service wise are pretty grim in my limited expereince but they serve a totally differnt market to BA in Latin America where BA have virtuallya token presence and BA serve India and Asia which are the dark side of the moon for Iberia
As for BA-AA that just seems an invitaion for the EU nd US regulators to make life very hard fr both companies for many years before any possible synergies can come through
PB

[Torquelink]

BA used to own a chunk of QF didn't they? Then sold it a year or two back. There's joined up thinking for you!

[beamender99]

In these hard times - B & Q the new DIY airline?

[Raggyman]

Since neither BA or Qantas is state owned or controlled, I can't see that either government has a veto.

Would have thought from Australia's perspective they would, as I think that it would fall under the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission and their Trade Practices Act for being anti competitive. I think it is still the case back home in Oz that any merger would have to be blessed by them, before they would be able to merge.

I think if the merger does go ahead, alot of australian's wouldn't fly them any more. There was pride in flying with Qantas because it was Australian.

[lomapaseo]

I think if the merger does go ahead, alot of australian's wouldn't fly them any more. There was pride in flying with Qantas because it was Australian.

If you don't work for a company, I don't think that there is such a thing as pride. It's simply service at a cost

But I gotta admit that when Pan Am and TWA transfered their routes and fleets I didn't fly them anymore either

[Raggyman]

If you don't work for a company, I don't think that there is such a thing as pride. It's simply service at a cost

Ah, maybe it was just me, and had pride when I flew with them. I use to be proud of the fact that they were Australian and you grew up with them and whenever you went somewhere you always flew them. Probably a better word would be loyalty rather than pride.

I guess that is why most people of my parents generation still fly them. It all comes down to exposure and what you are comfortable with. As for now, I fly Emirates where ever I can. For people who haven't travelled very much, flying a non native carrier can be a bit daunting. From simple things as they aren't aware that most people speak english, and in the case of emirates that not everyone who lives in the middle east is a terrorist and wants to kill every westerner in the place.

I think you would find that alot of people fly Qantas because it is identified as an Australian airline, and most Australian's would comfort that idea. Definitely in some cases people fly on price -vs- quality of service.

[Iver]

Just take SQ through Singapore if you want to fly the A380 exclusively to SYD....

[BEA 71]

BA QF merger talks

People donīt make their decision based on PRIDE, they make it based on PRICE.

[Raggyman]

People donīt make their decision based on PRIDE, they make it based on PRICE.

If that is the case, then there would be loads of lost cost international carriers. There are always going to be people who buy a ticket based on price as well, just as there are people who fly particular airlines because of what they represent. That is why there are so many airlines around, each trying to provide each part of the market, and hopefully make some money out of it along the way.

If there was a Ģ100 difference internationally between flying with the national carrier and a non national carrier, people I think would pay the difference.

Seasoned travellers would probably not apply this, or people on a tight budget.

[BEA 71]

Well, Raggyman, this was a lesson I have learned in more than three decades in the business. Of course there are always some very loyal
customers, but the majority will go on the cheapest possible fare.
Bargaing like on a bazaar is common at airline ticket desks. Ask ticket
agents from any airline. Temporarily there is a market for low cost
carriers, however they can not provide the services a established
airline can offer. Without Lufthansa, British Airways, Air France, Qantas,
Iberia etc. - just to name a few - there would be no global airline
network.

[bar none]

Why would the competition authorities want to look at a merger between two airlines when one of them flies to Australia only once per day ?
Raggyman used to fly Qantas because it was Australian. Airlines are in an international business and if Qantas was attractive to Australians rather than the wider world they would soon wither and die.
Also Raggyman if Qantas cabin crew standards began to match those of British Airways it would be an improvement. All the survays say so.