BA used/uses dirty triacs against Virgin?

[Bmused55]

Hi folks

I was perusing the forums on airliners.net and found this topic.

http://www.airliners.net/discussions/general_aviation/read.main/1177259/

anyone have anything to say about this?

Being a BA fan, I think this gossiping is uncalled for, and even verging on the outrageous.. surely all this is mere speculation.


Whether true or not, I will continue my support for BA


go speedbird go! :ok: (gotta love that callsign! :cool: )

[PPRuNe Pop]

Before this subject gets away half cocked. Just look at the the link! There was a book written about it - "Dirty Tricks" by Simon Calder. The details are in the public domain and BA paid the price.

Not much to add really.

[esportadude]

Ah a fine chap Simon Calder I went to school with him . An excellent tennis player as well ! ;)

[PAXboy]

It was all of those things and although it was settled in court - all parties have agreed not to discuss it any more.

However, there is an enormous pile of [shall we just say] dislike? between the two companies.

BA were horrified the service/price that VS put on from Day One and took great fright. Rather than try to out-smart, or out-do them, they decided to try another route.

In my opinion, since BA had a good service already, there was no need to do this. As it happens, over the past near 20 years, the BA product has improved even further and is of the highest possible quality. VS has driven a lot of this and BA ought to thank them. :ooh:

However, due to the ridiculous behaviour of BA in this matter, they have not been my first choice since the court case. I still use them when they are appropriate or it is a monopoly route but never as first choice.

[Captain Airclues]

Does anyone know if it is possible to access court records for 1995 on the net? My recollection is that Virgin were unable to prove any wrongdoing, and had to pay their own, and BA's costs. (the case of Virgin vs BA, not RB vs Lord King). I believe that they also lost all twelve of their actions in the US against BA.

However, even if the allegations are true, they certainly did Virgin no harm,. We Brits always love the underdog, and what better way to win the simpathy vote than to accuse BA of 'dirty tricks'. It is a great marketing tool, and and I'm sure that the subject will never be allowed to be forgotten.

Airclues

[t'aint natural]

A better book is 'Dirty Tricks - British Airways' secret war against Virgin Atlantic' by Martin Gregory, the former This Week TV reporter. Little, Brown ISBN 0 316 90846 0.
Although no money changed hands (unlike in the case of Freddie Laker, who was paid something over £9 million by BA over the dirty tricks campaign that put him out of business) it did cost the jobs of Lord King and the lovely Mister Burnside.

[PAXboy]

Whatever happened in court there certainly was fire from the smoke. I recall reading reports of staff who had been detailed to 'hi-jack' VS pax upon arrival at the terminal and suggest that they travel with BA. There were many other things, one of which was that rumours were spread about the financial stability of VS. These got into the papers and were reported.

One time when my girlfriend and I were about to travel on VS (early '90s) her father said, "You'd better not book with them - the paper says that they are going broke." It may be said that many airlines have these rumours almost constantly, but VS was able to trace them back.

However, in the spirit of fairness, I sit to be corrected.