Virgin Atlantic and British Airways row deepens

A row between Sir Richard Branson of Virgin Atlantic and Willie Walsh, British Airways’ chief executive, appears to be getting increasingly acrimonious. Branson has been very vocal in his criticism of a British Airways proposal to merge with American Airlines when it comes to transatlantic flights. Branson’s Virgin Atlantic competes with BA on many of these UK to US routes. As such the prolific founder and entrepreneur is clearly worried that his carrier stands at a disadvantage as the much larger flag carriers pool their resources and cooperate. As such, Branson has called upon regulators in the US to reject the proposal, which they are currently examining, due to the negative impact that it will have on competition, consumer choice and the likelihood that a merger would lead to a BA-AA monopoly on several routes.

Walsh, however, hit back earlier this week, noting that Branson “knows a good deal about monopolies” considering that his firm controls railway service between London and Manchester. Walsh went on to comment in an article published in The Telegraph that “with help from taxpayers, [Branson] has run a real [monopoly] on fast trains between London and Manchester since 1997.” A seemingly irate Branson responded by saying that Walsh’s claims were “demonstrably false.”  Virgin’s founder went on to explain that passenger traffic has increased by 50 percent on the London to Manchester train route, in spite of significant competition, thanks to a range of coach companies, dozens of flights and, of course, automobiles.

Thank you to Alistair Osborne of the Daily Telegraph for the initial report.

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