More strife over BA fuel surcharges.
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More strife over BA fuel surcharges.
From today's FT. Headline news no less. Not exactly unexpected news but more trouble just when they don't need it.
Four past and present British Airways executives are to be charged with price-fixing in a landmark criminal prosecution that will send tremors through leading multinationals, the Financial Times has learned.
The cartel case, only the second brought by the Office of Fair Trading, leaves senior figures from one of Britain’s biggest corporate names facing the threat of up to five years in jail.
The OFT’s action, the latest in a crackdown on price-fixing in sectors ranging from supermarkets and tobacco to construction, raises the prospect that other bosses may face prosecution.
The watchdog has decided to charge the four men over a conspiracy between BA and Virgin Atlantic between 2004 and 2006 to fix the price of passenger fuel surcharges on transatlantic flights.
Those to be charged are: Andrew Crawley, BA’s head of sales; Martin George, former commercial director and board member; Iain Burns, former head of communications; and Alan Burnett, former head of UK and Ireland sales.
Four past and present British Airways executives are to be charged with price-fixing in a landmark criminal prosecution that will send tremors through leading multinationals, the Financial Times has learned.
The cartel case, only the second brought by the Office of Fair Trading, leaves senior figures from one of Britain’s biggest corporate names facing the threat of up to five years in jail.
The OFT’s action, the latest in a crackdown on price-fixing in sectors ranging from supermarkets and tobacco to construction, raises the prospect that other bosses may face prosecution.
The watchdog has decided to charge the four men over a conspiracy between BA and Virgin Atlantic between 2004 and 2006 to fix the price of passenger fuel surcharges on transatlantic flights.
Those to be charged are: Andrew Crawley, BA’s head of sales; Martin George, former commercial director and board member; Iain Burns, former head of communications; and Alan Burnett, former head of UK and Ireland sales.
Paxing All Over The World
Certainly amazing that they did this - as they did not need to do it.
It is now very easy to keep tabs on what your competitor is doing - you only have to watch their web site - and then you can follow (or lead) with prices and surcharges as you choose. Just make sure that you keep enough space between your prices and the dates when you implement them.
To actually speak to the competitors shows that these people were badly recruited and badly managed. i.e. Senior mgmt is at fault. But ... try to prove that in court? Ha!
It is now very easy to keep tabs on what your competitor is doing - you only have to watch their web site - and then you can follow (or lead) with prices and surcharges as you choose. Just make sure that you keep enough space between your prices and the dates when you implement them.
To actually speak to the competitors shows that these people were badly recruited and badly managed. i.e. Senior mgmt is at fault. But ... try to prove that in court? Ha!
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The bit I find amazing about this is that the Virgin guys colluded with the BA guys but because they went to the authorities they are exempt!! How can that be right? "Yes m'lud, I also killed the person concerned but they did it and didn't tell you" "There, there Mr Jumper...you're free to go" Law and justice is a beautiful thing................
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I enjoyed a post from a while back where someone said they saw Martin George across a BA Staff Canteen* and put his fork up to his eyes to imagine George in prison...... Happy days, hope they all enjoy prison life.
(Clearly it's not a canteen in Waterworld, it's a bistro)
(Clearly it's not a canteen in Waterworld, it's a bistro)
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I didn't read this article or follow this story but hope they get the maximum sentence possible and hope other airline execs go to jail as well. The bogus fuel surcharges imposed by many airlines that have absolutely nothing to do with the price they pay for fuel are nothing short of criminal fraud. Send the whole lot to jail and get some new people in who don't practice such blatant dishonesty.
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I am a victim of this fraud and as such they have taken food from my child's mouth.
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Originally Posted by kemblejet01
I am a victim of this fraud and as such they have taken food from my child's mouth.
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Double Jeopardy
If I'm not mistaken, the First Case referred to in the FT article was in the oil industry
Three Brits (amongst others) got lifted early '07 in the States, fixing price of Floating Marine Hose (average cost $50000 a length but ordered in multiples) sentences averaged 3 years + $75000, then they were involved in a deal & shipped back to UK were they pled guilty and received similar sentences & are now doing time - on completion of which they have to return to the States where their US sentences MAY be set aside!!!
Will the BA gang face similar problems???
PZU - Out of Africa (retired)
Three Brits (amongst others) got lifted early '07 in the States, fixing price of Floating Marine Hose (average cost $50000 a length but ordered in multiples) sentences averaged 3 years + $75000, then they were involved in a deal & shipped back to UK were they pled guilty and received similar sentences & are now doing time - on completion of which they have to return to the States where their US sentences MAY be set aside!!!
Will the BA gang face similar problems???
PZU - Out of Africa (retired)
Last edited by pzu; 27th Jul 2008 at 18:07.
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In defence of the witch-hunt
I was interviewed for a job in UK Sales by Andrew Crawley ca.12 years ago when I thought I'd see how life was "on the other side". He was then head of UK Sales Business Development unit.
I didn't get the job, but I was impressed with the bloke.
Something is wrong in the UK if perpetrators of violent crime are given suspended or minimum sentences, yet business execs - at no personal gain - fiddle the figures and face jail time.
Sure, what they did was wrong, but apart from starving kemblejet01's child , no one was hurt or injured and the public - who already enjoy unprecedented low fares often at the cost of staff conditions - had to pay a few quid more.
Meanwhile feral scallys roam the streets content in the knowledge they are above the law.
I didn't get the job, but I was impressed with the bloke.
Something is wrong in the UK if perpetrators of violent crime are given suspended or minimum sentences, yet business execs - at no personal gain - fiddle the figures and face jail time.
Sure, what they did was wrong, but apart from starving kemblejet01's child , no one was hurt or injured and the public - who already enjoy unprecedented low fares often at the cost of staff conditions - had to pay a few quid more.
Meanwhile feral scallys roam the streets content in the knowledge they are above the law.
Last edited by DCS99; 27th Jul 2008 at 21:04. Reason: Business Development isof. "Intelligence"
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Re Kemblejet01:
Quite incredible. Does this person really fly an aircraft?
The facts are: -There would have been fuel surcharges anyway.
-They wouldnt have been very different,- conversations or
no conversations. The other Atlantic carriers have raised
their overall rates by much the same amounts.
- The airlines have to raise their fares to cover at least some
of their additional fuel costs but are on a high wire act
between increasing and losing revennue if demand drops off.
-It isnt easy and overall they aren't doing a bad job of it.
-None of the individuals mentioned have yet been found
guilty of anything.
Quite incredible. Does this person really fly an aircraft?
The facts are: -There would have been fuel surcharges anyway.
-They wouldnt have been very different,- conversations or
no conversations. The other Atlantic carriers have raised
their overall rates by much the same amounts.
- The airlines have to raise their fares to cover at least some
of their additional fuel costs but are on a high wire act
between increasing and losing revennue if demand drops off.
-It isnt easy and overall they aren't doing a bad job of it.
-None of the individuals mentioned have yet been found
guilty of anything.
Last edited by Skylion; 27th Jul 2008 at 17:52. Reason: Missed out the reference to kenblejet01
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You only have to look on any Airline Fare website to see that the carriers still collude with one another. Searching for a trip to Bangkok later in the year on various sites brought up four flights within a few pence of one another. And they all seem to end in .42 or .62 pence!
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Something is wrong in the UK if perpetrators of violent crime are given suspended or minimum sentences, yet business execs - at no personal gain - fiddle the figures and face jail time.
If convicted they will become criminal fraudsters who have in effect swindled a lot of people out of their money. For this they need to be punished.
I agree with you that other criminals get an easy time though and that is clearly very wrong.
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You only have to look on any Airline Fare website to see that the carriers still collude with one another. Searching for a trip to Bangkok later in the year on various sites brought up four flights within a few pence of one another. And they all seem to end in .42 or .62 pence!
Otherwise you could say Petrol stations collude to set the price of fuel, and any other company that sells anything!!
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What IS amazing, is that Wee Willie , DID NOT KNOW ANYTHING... Pull the other one... There again, whats Eddingtons excuse?
Ok, he may not have been at the helm when this all started, but it surely carried on after he joined. NO excuse. He should have spoken with all senoir members of each dept. when he joined, to get an idea of the situation that BA was in, so he could then go forward making decisions on what his findings were.
Does anyone really beleive that WW had no idea? A case of take the money and when the sh1t goes down, 'Nothing to do with me pal'...
Where did these vast sums of money show on ballance sheets... The ones he never saw...
PS - Having stood up and personally took the blame for T5 not working (It was well underway before he started with BA), shouldnt WW take some form of responsability for this...
Ok, he may not have been at the helm when this all started, but it surely carried on after he joined. NO excuse. He should have spoken with all senoir members of each dept. when he joined, to get an idea of the situation that BA was in, so he could then go forward making decisions on what his findings were.
Does anyone really beleive that WW had no idea? A case of take the money and when the sh1t goes down, 'Nothing to do with me pal'...
Where did these vast sums of money show on ballance sheets... The ones he never saw...
PS - Having stood up and personally took the blame for T5 not working (It was well underway before he started with BA), shouldnt WW take some form of responsability for this...