British Airways’ parent company eyes stake in American
After a very public back and forth flirtation with US Airways through the media, American Airlines is now entertaining other suitors.
The International Airline Group (IAG) the company that owns both British Airways and Iberia said today that buying a stake in American Airlines was ‘something we are going to look at." CEO of IAG, Willie Walsh made the comments to the Financial Times and AP also confirmed the remarks.
Walsh also said that a prime reason for the stake option would be to stabilize American’s presence in IAG’s oneworld frequent-flier alliance.
British Airways and American Airlines code share many transatlantic flights
On August 1st of 2011, Thomas W. Horton, president of AMR Corporation told The Times of London that since the two airlines already share so much, a formal merger was the inevitable next step. He said that although US law prohibits more than 25 percent foreign ownership of national airlines, possible agreements and future legal flexibility could eventually lead to a cross-border merger between British and American Airlines.
Virgin Atlantic has long publicly protested a fusion of the two airlines in a "BA/AA No Way," campaign. Sir Richard Branson has said that a merger between the two transatlantic giants would squeeze out competition and ultimately be bad for passengers.
Gretchen Kelly
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