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BA chief talks global air game.

Article Excerpt
British Airways is in the midst of reshaping its business and returning to profitability. BTN editor David Jonas recently traveled to BA headquarters in London to discuss with CEO Rod Eddington global corporate travel, the changing distribution landscape and ongoing security, and market liberalization developments between the United States and European Union.

BTN: What is your current outlook for premium travel across the Atlantic?

Rod Eddington: The North Atlantic in particular always is susceptible to external threats. Broadly, our premium numbers have looked better during the past few months, but there still is a lot of pressure across the airplane on yields. We have said that revenue this year would be up 2 percent to 3 percent, which is hardly a robust recovery, but more optimistic than we have been.

BTN: What is your sense from large corporate clients about their forward-looking traffic patterns?

Eddington: We are beginning to see more economic activity, which is behind the improvement we are seeing in premium numbers. The investment banks are much more positive compared to where they were 12 months ago. Some of our other corporate customers are seeing the same thing. The economic challenges of Germany and France still are with us more than ever, but the good news is that U.S. and U.K. economies are pretty robust compared with the past few years.

BTN: A product of the economic challenges is industry consolidation, most notably the nearly completed merger of Air France and KLM. Have the competitive concerns of that merger been cleared up by the concessions that were agreed upon?

Eddington: It is clear that...

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