Following this morning’s breaking News Item in Airport International, concerning the record-breaking £121.5 million fine dealt out by the Office of Fair Trading, a new update has emerged within the past hour. Instigated by the US Department of Justice, which partnered the OFT in the investigation into BA’s practices over the past 14 months, an additional fine of £148 million has now been imposed – taking the total to approximately £270 million.

As reported this morning, BA stands accused of colluding with fellow British carrier Virgin Atlantic in respect of fuel surcharges on ticket prices. The need for these increases was the rising cost of oil, a reciprocation described by the UK flagship airline’s Chief Executive, Willie Walsh, this morning, as “a legitimate way of recovering costs”.

Today marks the first time in history that action has been jointly taken by the UK and US industry regulators against a single company. Furthermore, the US DoJ cited its fine as the second-biggest that it has ever issued. Commenting, in respect of what constitutes one of the most significant moments in airline history, the department’s Scott Hammond highlighted the seriousness of BA’s actions. "Virtually every American business and consumer was impacted by these crimes", he said.

To this, he added: “American companies rely on competitive shipping rates to export their goods to foreign markets, American consumers rely on imports for so many consumer and household goods, American families flew these airlines on international destinations. In every instance American businesses and consumers ended up paying more as a result of these crimes."

Prior to this, the Chairman of the Office of Fair Trading, Philip Collins, had already described how the fine would “send an important message” to firms everywhere about the force of regulatory power it was prepared to take. “This serves to remind companies of the substantial risks involved if they are found to engage in such behaviour”, he added.

Source - Paul Fiddian - Chief Journalist, Airport International

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