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BA boss berates US airline ‘protectionism’
Outgoing British Airways CEO Sir Rod Eddington has strongly condemned US Chapter 11 bankruptcy laws for propping up failing airlines.
Speaking at the Aviation Club in London before standing down at the end of the month, he said: “In the last four years, the US airlines have soaked up $15 billion to $20 billion of public subsidies and loan guarantees. They’re operating in protected markets, they’re hoovering up public funds and still they can’t make a profit.”
He also reportedly said: “America, the land of the free, is turning itself into the land of the free ride.”
Sir Rod’s comments come as Delta and Northwest doubled the number of US carriers operating under the Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection rules.
Reported in the Financial Times, the Australian chief of BA said: “The US airlines are dumping capacity on the North Atlantic, distorting competition. They struggle to compete and, at some, the workforce has been demoralised. The more the government has tried to help, the worse things have become.”
He called for a radical trimming of the global airline industry, saying: “The international industry is structurally unsound. There are too many airlines, too many flag-carrying fleets making vanity flights around the world.”
Sor Rod said accused the US of blocking an easing of rules for takeovers and preventing “genuinely open skies”.
He added: “This is offensive because it is stupid, because it doesn’t benefit anyone, because it encourages inefficiencies, rewards bad habits, drives out good money and replaces it with bad.”
Report by Phil Davies
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