Market Currents

• Tuesday, October 6, 2009

• 12:23 PM British Airways (BAIRY.PK) bypasses unions to cut 1,000 flight attendant jobs, and another 3,000 will go part-time. Crews on its 747s will be cut slightly. Comment!

• Friday, September 18, 2009

• 08:54 AM Sources say American Airlines (AMR) will team up with British Airways (BAIRY.PK) and Qantas to inject capital into troubled Japan Airlines and thwart a rival bid from Delta Air Lines (DAL). Delta's SkyTeam alliance wooing JAL away from AMR's Oneworld would leave that team without a Japanese carrier. Comment!

• Thursday, July 30, 2009

• 08:14 AM Bad news for Boeing (BA): British Airways (BAIRY.PK) is squeezing the plane maker over predelivery payments, the Dreamliner's braking system is still incomplete because of a payment dispute, and S&P downgraded Boeing one notch over concerns of additional production cuts. Comment!

• Wednesday, July 29, 2009

• 08:07 AM American Airlines (AMR) says it expects to win approval by October to form an alliance with British Airways (BAIRY.PK) and Iberia. The airline is betting on intra-alliance competition and global partnerships to help it survive. Comment!

• Tuesday, July 14, 2009

• 12:07 PM Ominous tone from British Airways (BAIRY.PK) chairman Martin Broughton at the company's annual meeting this morning. Demand for premium travel may never recover amid "the biggest crisis the aviation industry has ever known," he said. "This is extremely grave news for major full-service airlines, which have a traditional reliance on the premium market to generate a high proportion of their total revenue." 2 Comments

• Friday, July 10, 2009

• 10:26 AM British Airways (BAIRY.PK) inches closer to its first major strike in over a decade as unions resist a management push for 4,000 job cuts. Four weeks of direct negotiations have failed, as have two days of government-funded arbitration. Comment!

• Tuesday, July 7, 2009

• 08:53 AM A union representing 14,000 of British Airways' (BAIRY.PK) cabin crew rejects job cuts and pay freezes proposed by the airline. Talks will begin tomorrow with a state-funded mediator. Comment!

• Friday, May 22, 2009

• 00:05 AM Notable earnings before Friday's open: BAIRY.PK, CPB, YGE Comment!

• Thursday, February 12, 2009

• 09:04 AM British Airways (BAIRY.PK) and Spain's Iberia move closer to a decision on whether to proceed with a proposed £3.16B ($4.59B) merger. Sources say Iberia's board will meet today to discuss a fresh proposal to speed up the process. Comment!

• Friday, January 30, 2009

• 12:34 PM Experts help Barrons identify five drugs the FDA will likely approve in 2009, all of which could improve treatment of serious illnesses and eventually pay off for investors. List includes blood thinners prasugrel (LLY) and Xarelto (JNJ, BAIRY.PK). Comment!

• Thursday, December 18, 2008

• 07:21 AM British Airways (BAIRY.PK) and Qantas call off merger talks (PR). Not a huge surprise; analysts questioned the rationale all along. A BAntas autopsy. Shares of British Air are down 0.8% in London, after opening much lower. Could an Air Canada (AIDIF.PK) bid be on BAIRY's radar? Comment!
• 07:05 AM British Airways (BAIRY.PK) and Australia's Qantas call off merger talks after failing to agree on key terms of the potential deal. The call frees up British Airways to pursue a deal with Spain's Iberia, while Qantas may pursue ties with Asian airlines. Comment!

• Tuesday, December 16, 2008

• 09:13 AM British Airways (BAIRY.PK) leaves the door open for a commercial alliance with a revamped Alitalia, including a possible stake in the Italian carrier. Comment!

• Tuesday, December 2, 2008

• 09:17 AM British Airways (BAIRY.PK) is in talks with Australia's Qantas Airways about a possible merger. British Airways says its merger talks with Iberia are continuing. Comment!

• Friday, November 7, 2008

• 09:47 AM "In these difficult times it is more important than ever to deliver excellent customer service," British Airways (BAIRY.PK) tells investors, noting punctuality performance is up 20% from a year ago. Shares surged after it raised its revenue growth outlook. Comment!
• 05:15 AM Shares of British Airways (BAIRY.PK +9.3%) surge as much as 22% after it raises its full-year revenue growth forecast to 4% from 3%, and says it will trim summer flights and raise prices. (PR) Comment!