So are BA knackered.
Discussion
I've just heard from a "mate in the city" that BA have just had their pensions hole valued at £2.3 billion and that the company has only been valued at £1.7ish billion. Another friend who works for a newspaper rang and mentioned that they've been asked not to run the story!!!!
So are they stuffed? Is any of this true?
Edited to add: B*gger, missed the ? in the title.......
So are they stuffed? Is any of this true?
Edited to add: B*gger, missed the ? in the title.......
Edited by IforB on Wednesday 1st July 13:57
)Rich, when the last audit into the pensions defecit happened in 2006, BA themselves admitted that the hole was a "threat to the existence of the airline".
Then it was £2.1 billion and they made efforts to reduce it, such as increasing staff contributions and BA's own contribution.
Now they are already asking staff to take pay cuts, freezes and even to work for free and yet the hole had grown even bigger.
Whilst I could never really believe before that BA could go up in smoke, they look more and more likely to now. I doubt it will be during the summer season, which is traditionally when airlines make their money, but in the lean winter months.
I have also been told that they have already been to Downing St with cap in hand.
They have pretty sizeable debt aswell. I think they are in a whole heap of trouble and that the numbers of people willing to help them out of it might be dwindling.
Then it was £2.1 billion and they made efforts to reduce it, such as increasing staff contributions and BA's own contribution.
Now they are already asking staff to take pay cuts, freezes and even to work for free and yet the hole had grown even bigger.
Whilst I could never really believe before that BA could go up in smoke, they look more and more likely to now. I doubt it will be during the summer season, which is traditionally when airlines make their money, but in the lean winter months.
I have also been told that they have already been to Downing St with cap in hand.
They have pretty sizeable debt aswell. I think they are in a whole heap of trouble and that the numbers of people willing to help them out of it might be dwindling.
IforB that's a bit naughty, stirring it up about the competition like that. 
I met a BA hostie who was earning over £50,000 a year. That's for pushing a trolly, in fact she worked in first and just sat in an 'office' on the aircraft and told the junior hosties when to push their trollies. There must be hundreds of them in her position, many other airlines would employ three hosties for that salary.
BA are a great British company though, I'm sure they can make some savings by cutting down on more of their thousands of middle managers.
It was never like this in the good old days before that pikey O'leary and his 'work for nothing' band of desperados came along.
I met a BA hostie who was earning over £50,000 a year. That's for pushing a trolly, in fact she worked in first and just sat in an 'office' on the aircraft and told the junior hosties when to push their trollies. There must be hundreds of them in her position, many other airlines would employ three hosties for that salary.
BA are a great British company though, I'm sure they can make some savings by cutting down on more of their thousands of middle managers.
It was never like this in the good old days before that pikey O'leary and his 'work for nothing' band of desperados came along.
Edited by el stovey on Wednesday 1st July 16:07
The simple fact of the matter is that you cannot run a business like the Civil Service with its warped priorities and imaginary issues, and all these nationalised or ex-nationalised industries are f
ked before they start because of the red tape in which they are tied and political influences which are constantly being brought to bear.
Politicians can run neither business nor the country, and I would have thought we would all have realised that by now.
ked before they start because of the red tape in which they are tied and political influences which are constantly being brought to bear. Politicians can run neither business nor the country, and I would have thought we would all have realised that by now.
Not sure how much this is some sort of 'big city secret' that only those-in-the-know know. There was a full page article in the Sunday Times a week or two ago openly talking of their possible collapse although they pointed out that having £1bn cash in the bank means there is no immediate danger.
And don't forget o'leary has been calling them a 'pension fund with wings attached' for some time!
And don't forget o'leary has been calling them a 'pension fund with wings attached' for some time!
The secret if it can be called that is that the pension hole is virtually twice what the company is worth, despite BA pumping 850 million into it since 2006. I actually got the figures wrong in my opening post. The numbers look closer to £2.8 billion pension defecit, the company was valued at just over £1.5 billion today.
The "billion" in the bank is a bit more than that, but that won't last long given their debt repayment commitments.
I don't often agree with O'Leary, but he's not far off the truth. I hope BA can survive it though. The thought of Ryanair taking them over or gaining a more dominant postition in Europe fills me full of fear.
The "billion" in the bank is a bit more than that, but that won't last long given their debt repayment commitments.
I don't often agree with O'Leary, but he's not far off the truth. I hope BA can survive it though. The thought of Ryanair taking them over or gaining a more dominant postition in Europe fills me full of fear.
Just what I said. Index linked 'final salary' pensions are a public sector concept which are ruinously expensive and unaffordable - but people in this country have been educated to believe that they are in some way a right. They cannot be paid for, and for that matter they cannot be paid for in the public sector either - that is the factor which guarantees that Britain is not coming out of this recession in any way that we would recognise.
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