73-657: OpenSkies SASU [ fr ] was a French airline owned by International Airlines Group (IAG) which operated under the Level brand prior to closing down, and before that operated under its own brand name. Its headquarters were located in Rungis , near Paris . The airline launched as a brand of BA European Limited in June 2008, but in April 2009 the name was transferred to Elysair (which had operated as L'Avion ). The airline
146-478: A civil rights dispute when a Christian employee was forbidden to wear a necklace bearing the cross , a religious symbol. BA's practice of forbidding such symbols has been publicly questioned by British politicians such as the former Home Secretary John Reid and the former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw . Relations have been turbulent between BA and Unite. In 2007, cabin crew threatened strike action over salary changes to be imposed by BA management. The strike
219-489: A British Airways Board was established by the British government to manage the two nationalised airline corporations, British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways , and two regional airlines, Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines . On 31 March 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways. However, it marked 2019 as its centenary based on predecessor companies. After almost 13 years as
292-418: A brand new ad campaign, titled "A British Original" produced by London-based Uncommon Creative Studio. This was to be another record-breaking campaign for its use of 500 unique executions along with a series of 32 short films, coinciding with the launch of Ozwald Boateng's new collection of uniform. British Airways purchased the internet domain ba.com in 2002 from previous owner Bell Atlantic , 'BA' being
365-607: A continuation of the flight to Bahrain. Following the Air France Concorde crash in Paris and a slump in air travel following the 11 September attacks in New York in 2001, it was decided to cease Concorde operations in 2003 after 27 years of service. The final commercial Concorde flight was BA002 from New York-JFK to London-Heathrow on 24 October 2003. In 1981 the airline was instructed to prepare for privatisation by
438-410: A cost savings of £750m and the establishment of a budget airline, Go , in 1998. The next year, however, British Airways reported an 84% drop in profits in its first quarter alone, its worst in seven years. In March 2000, Ayling was removed from his position and British Airways announced Rod Eddington as his successor. That year, British Airways and KLM conducted talks on a potential merger, reaching
511-739: A decision in July to file an official merger plan with the European Commission. The plan fell through in September 2000. British Asia Airways ceased operations in 2001 after BA suspended flights to Taipei. Go was sold to its management and the private equity firm 3i in June 2001. Eddington would make further workforce cuts due to reduced demand following 11 September attacks in 2001, and BA sold its stake in Qantas in September 2004. In 2005 Willie Walsh , managing director of Aer Lingus and
584-408: A dramatic increase in travel, and the company now faced a worker shortage, forcing it to cancel more than 1,500 flights. During February 2023, The international airlines group, the owners of British Airways announced that the group has returned to making an annual profit of €1.3 billion for the first time since the pandemic, following a €2.8 billion loss in 2021. The company warned that due to
657-494: A few minutes or try the purge function . Titles on Misplaced Pages are case sensitive except for the first character; please check alternative capitalizations and consider adding a redirect here to the correct title. If the page has been deleted, check the deletion log , and see Why was the page I created deleted? Retrieved from " https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Société_par_actions_simplifiée_unipersonnelle " Executive Club British Airways plc ( BA )
730-537: A former pilot, became the chief executive officer of British Airways. BA unveiled its new subsidiary OpenSkies in January 2008, taking advantage of the liberalisation of transatlantic traffic rights between Europe and the United States. OpenSkies flies non-stop from Paris to New York's JFK and Newark airports. In July 2008, British Airways announced a merger plan with Iberia , another flag carrier airline in
803-406: A new subsidiary airline called BA European Limited, trading as Openskies (previously known as "Project Lauren"). which launched originally with a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence. This permitted the airline to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. The operating licence was suspended on 6 May 2009 for three months following the transfer of
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#1732772569776876-401: A pay offer. Strike action continued throughout 2017 in numerous discontinuous periods, resulting in one of the longest running disputes in aviation history. On 31 October 2017, after 85 days of discontinuous industrial action, Mixed Fleet accepted a new pay deal from BA which ended the dispute. British Airways serves over 170 destinations in 70 countries, including eight domestic and 27 in
949-637: A state company, BA was privatised in February 1987 as part of a wider privatisation plan by the Conservative government . The carrier expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987, Dan-Air in 1992, and British Midland International in 2012. It is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines , the now-defunct Canadian Airlines , Cathay Pacific , and Qantas . The alliance has since grown to become
1022-653: Is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom . It is headquartered in London , England, near its main hub at Heathrow Airport . The airline is the second largest UK-based carrier, based on fleet size and passengers carried, behind easyJet . In January 2011 BA merged with Iberia , creating the International Airlines Group (IAG), a holding company registered in Madrid , Spain. IAG
1095-654: Is the world's third-largest airline group in terms of annual revenue and the second-largest in Europe. It is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE 100 Index . British Airways is the first passenger airline to have generated more than US$ 1 billion on a single air route in a year (from 1 April 2017, to 31 March 2018, on the New York-JFK – London-Heathrow route). BA was created in 1974 after
1168-653: The 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict . Over its history, BA has had many subsidiaries. In addition to the below, British Airways also owned Airways Aero Association, the operator of the British Airways flying club based at Wycombe Air Park in High Wycombe , until it was sold to Surinder Arora in 2007. British Airways obtained a 15% stake in UK regional airline Flybe from the sale of BA Connect in March 2007. It sold
1241-632: The 777 and 787 . In October 2020, British Airways retired its fleet of 747-400 aircraft. It was one of the largest operators of the 747, having previously operated the -100, -200, and -400 aircraft from 1974 (1969 with BOAC ). The airline has its own engineering branch to maintain its aircraft fleet, this includes line maintenance at over 70 airports around the world. Amongst the company's various hangar facilities are its two major maintenance centres at Glasgow and Cardiff Airports . The musical theme predominantly used on British Airways advertising has been " The Flower Duet " by Léo Delibes . This
1314-509: The Conservative Thatcher government. Sir John King , later Lord King, was appointed chairman, charged with bringing the airline back into profitability. While many other large airlines struggled, King was credited with transforming British Airways into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world. The flag carrier was privatised and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987. British Airways effected
1387-564: The EU-US Open Skies Agreement , which permits any airline based in the United States or the European Union to operate services to and from any EU or American location. The availability of landing slots limits the impact of the agreement at certain airports, such as London Heathrow Airport . With the creation of an Open Skies agreement between Europe and the United States in March 2008, British Airways started
1460-455: The Oneworld alliance as an affiliate member on 1 December 2012, of which parent British Airways is a founding member. British Airways Executive Club members were then able to claim tier points and BA miles on OpenSkies flights. On 28 November 2017, IAG announced that its low-cost airline brand Level would launch flights in July 2018 from Paris Orly Airport , which would be operated by staff that were currently employed by OpenSkies and using
1533-457: The article wizard to submit a draft for review, or request a new article . Search for " Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle " in existing articles. Look for pages within Misplaced Pages that link to this title . Other reasons this message may be displayed: If a page was recently created here, it may not be visible yet because of a delay in updating the database; wait
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#17327725697761606-487: The supersonic Concorde airliner, and the world's first supersonic passenger service flew on 21 January 1976 from Heathrow Airport to Bahrain International Airport . Services to the U.S. began on 24 May 1976 with a flight to Washington Dulles airport, and flights to New York JFK airport followed on 22 September 1977. Service to Singapore was established in co-operation with Singapore Airlines as
1679-550: The 12,000 job cuts and pay cuts. On 12 October 2020, it was announced that Sean Doyle , CEO of Aer Lingus (also part of the IAG airline group) would succeed Álex Cruz as CEO. The key trends for the British Airways PLC Group are shown below. On the merger with Iberia, the accounting reference date was changed from 31 March to 31 December; figures below are therefore for the years to 31 March up to 2010, for
1752-616: The British Airways Board unified its branding, effectively establishing British Airways as an airline on 31 March 1974. Following two years of fierce competition with British Caledonian , the second-largest airline in the United Kingdom at the time, the Government changed its aviation policy in 1976 so that the two carriers would no longer compete on long-haul routes. British Airways and Air France operated
1825-525: The Flag", and "To Fly, To Serve". BA had an account for 23 years with Saatchi & Saatchi , an agency that created many of their most famous advertisements, including "The World's Biggest Offer" and the influential "Face" campaign. Saatchi & Saatchi later imitated this advert for Silverjet , a rival of BA, after BA discontinued their business activities. Since 2007, BA used Bartle Bogle Hegarty as its advertising agency. In October 2022, BA launched
1898-521: The Iranian route is "not commercially viable". As a result, BA decided to stop its services in Iran, effective 22 September 2018. In 2018, British Airways partnered with British tailor and designer Ozwald Boateng to redesign the company's historic uniforms, in honour of its approaching centenary , creating a new look for BA, while adhering to its traditional style. The new collection "A British Original"
1971-1351: The Level brand. Both aircraft were initially ferried to storage and retired on 3 September 2018, while the 757–200 (MSN-25808) was later taken over by Cabo Verde Airlines . [REDACTED] Media related to OpenSkies at Wikimedia Commons Soci%C3%A9t%C3%A9 par actions simplifi%C3%A9e unipersonnelle Look for Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle on one of Misplaced Pages's sister projects : [REDACTED] Wiktionary (dictionary) [REDACTED] Wikibooks (textbooks) [REDACTED] Wikiquote (quotations) [REDACTED] Wikisource (library) [REDACTED] Wikiversity (learning resources) [REDACTED] Commons (media) [REDACTED] Wikivoyage (travel guide) [REDACTED] Wikinews (news source) [REDACTED] Wikidata (linked database) [REDACTED] Wikispecies (species directory) Misplaced Pages does not have an article with this exact name. Please search for Société par actions simplifiée unipersonnelle in Misplaced Pages to check for alternative titles or spellings. You need to log in or create an account and be autoconfirmed to create new articles. Alternatively, you can use
2044-559: The Olympics minister Hugh Robertson and the London Mayor Boris Johnson , along with the footballer David Beckham . On 27 May 2017, British Airways suffered a computer power failure. All flights were cancelled and thousands of passengers were affected. By the following day, the company had not succeeded in reestablishing the normal function of its computer systems. When asked by reporters for more information on
2117-631: The Oneworld alliance, wherein each airline would retain its original brand. The agreement was confirmed in April 2010, and in July the European Commission and U.S. Department of Transportation permitted the merger and began to co-ordinate transatlantic routes with American Airlines. On 6 October 2010 the alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia formally began operations. The alliance generates an estimated £230 million in annual cost-saving for BA, in addition to
2190-477: The Treasury blocked the proposal. Consequently, it was only following the recommendations of the 1969 Edwards Report that a new British Airways Board, managing both BEA and BOAC, and the two regional British airlines Cambrian Airways based at Cardiff, and Northeast Airlines based at Newcastle upon Tyne, was constituted on 1 April 1972. Although each airline's branding was maintained initially, two years later
2263-553: The Union ), while other branches of Unite the Union and the GMB Union represent other employees. Bob Ayling's management faced strike action by cabin crew over a £1 billion cost-cutting drive to return BA to profitability in 1997; this was the last time BA cabin crew would strike until 2009, although staff morale has reportedly been unstable since that incident. In an effort to increase interaction between management, employees, and
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2336-489: The United States. British Airways co-founded the airline alliance Oneworld in 1999 with airlines American Airlines , Cathay Pacific and Qantas . British Airways has codeshares with the following airlines: As of January 2024 , the British Airways operates a fleet of 253 aircraft with 47 orders. BA operates a mix of Airbus narrow and wide-body aircraft, and Boeing wide-body aircraft, specifically
2409-483: The acquisition of Brymon Airways in May, formed British Airways Citiexpress (later BA Connect ). In September 1998, British Airways, along with American Airlines , Cathay Pacific , Qantas, and Canadian Airlines , formed the Oneworld airline alliance . Oneworld began operations on 1 February 1999, and is the third-largest airline alliance in the world, behind SkyTeam and Star Alliance. Bob Ayling's leadership led to
2482-517: The airline announced that the Washington to Paris service would be suspended from 29 October. In December 2009, the airline announced a change of its New York operations: in January 2010, all OpenSkies flights were shifted from John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) to Newark . The airline restored service from JFK to Orly on 31 March 2013. Also in 2013, the airline announced a codesharing agreement with American Airlines . OpenSkies joined
2555-461: The airline reportedly included Dublin , Frankfurt , Madrid , Brussels , Rome , and Milan . The third destination for Openskies was Amsterdam, when flights began on 15 October 2008, and Newark became an additional destination when L'Avion was integrated into OpenSkies on 4 April 2009. On 24 July 2009, the airline announced that the route from New York-JFK to Amsterdam Schiphol would be suspended as of 16 August, for economic reasons. On 30 September
2628-533: The airline was agreed the next month, and the sale was completed for £172.5 million on 30 March 2012. The airline established a new subsidiary based at London City Airport operating Airbus A318s . British Airways was the official airline partner of the London 2012 Olympic Games . On 18 May 2012 it flew the Olympic flame from Athens International Airport to RNAS Culdrose while carrying various dignitaries, including Lord Sebastian Coe , Princess Anne ,
2701-479: The airline was initially reported to have been in the process of being shut down by IAG on 8 July 2020, and although ticket reservations were later reopened for the resumption of services, operations never restarted and ticket reservations were subsequently closed. British Airways wanted to reduce its dependence on its Heathrow Airport hub by flying between the United States and cities in continental Europe. The routes that OpenSkies operated were made possible due to
2774-516: The airline's air operator's certificate . In preparation for the change, OpenSkies' IATA code was changed from EC to LV in May 2018. The OpenSkies brand ceased to operate on 2 September 2018, after which all its staff began to operate Level flights. FlightGlobal stated that the retirement of the last OpenSkies branded aircraft "marked the end of the OpenSkies brand, from a public-facing perspective." OpenSkies began operating as Level France, with
2847-458: The airline. The airline used a cartoon safety video from circa 2005 until 2017. Beginning on 1 September 2017 the airline introduced the new Comic Relief live action safety video hosted by Chabuddy G , with appearances by British celebrities Gillian Anderson , Rowan Atkinson , Jim Broadbent , Rob Brydon , Warwick Davis , Chiwetel Ejiofor , Ian McKellen , Thandie Newton , and Gordon Ramsay . A "sequel" video, also hosted by Chabuddy G,
2920-472: The city. As a result of the case BA management apologised "unreservedly", and the company agreed to pay £110,000 in damages to Virgin, £500,000 to Branson personally and £3 million legal costs. Lord King stepped down as chairman in 1993 and was replaced by his deputy, Colin Marshall, while Bob Ayling took over as CEO. Virgin filed a separate action in the U.S. that same year regarding BA's domination of
2993-649: The combined International Airlines Group; Iberia's other shareholders received the remaining 45%. As a part of the merger, British Airways ceased trading independently on the London Stock Exchange after 23 years as a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index . In September 2010 Willie Walsh, now CEO of IAG, announced that the group was considering acquiring other airlines and had drawn up a shortlist of twelve possible acquisitions. In November 2011 IAG announced an agreement in principle to purchase British Midland International from Lufthansa . A contract to purchase
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3066-438: The company owns 52% of the slots as of 2019. In August 2014, Willie Walsh advised the airline would continue to use flight paths over Iraq despite the hostilities there. A few days earlier Qantas announced it would avoid Iraqi airspace, while other airlines did likewise. The issue arose following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, and a temporary suspension of flights to and from Ben Gurion Airport during
3139-518: The company set out plans to make up to 12,000 staff redundant because of the global collapse of air traffic due to the COVID-19 pandemic and that it may not reopen its operations at Gatwick airport. They reopened at Gatwick in March 2022. In July 2020, British Airways announced the immediate retirement of its entire 747-400 fleet, having originally intended to phase out the remaining 747s in 2024. The airline stated that its decision to bring forward
3212-482: The company's initialism and its IATA Airline code. British Airways is the official airline of the Wimbledon Championship tennis tournament , and was the official airline and tier one partner of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics . BA was also the official airline of England's bid to host the 2018 Football World Cup . High Life , founded in 1973, is the official in-flight magazine of
3285-526: The date was in part due to the downturn in air travel following the COVID-19 pandemic and to focus on incorporating more modern and fuel-efficient aircraft such as the Airbus A350 and Boeing 787 . At the same time, British Airways also announced its intention to eliminate carbon emissions by 2050. On 28 July 2020, the company's cabin crew union issued an "industrial action" warning in order to prevent
3358-444: The end of 2009 beyond the one already transferred, as originally planned, but instead would sell them to a third party. OpenSkies was originally to expand to six aircraft by the end of 2009, but BA said this plan had been cancelled. On 8 April 2016, Openskies announced the addition of a Boeing 767 aircraft in a three-class configuration, transferred from parent British Airways which was retiring its 3-class 767 fleet. The aircraft, which
3431-574: The first time. British Airways holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats. The airlines' head office, Waterside , stands in Harmondsworth , a village that is near Heathrow Airport. Waterside was completed in June 1998 to replace British Airways' previous head office, Speedbird House, located in Technical Block C on
3504-457: The following airlines: The OpenSkies fleet, which was operated under the Level brand, consisted of the following aircraft at the time the airline was shut down in July 2020: OpenSkies previously operated the following aircraft types under its own brand name until September 2018: In February 2009, British Airways announced that it would not transfer additional 757s to its OpenSkies subsidiary by
3577-418: The four-way merger between BOAC, BEA, Cambrian, and Northeast were temporarily given the text logo "British airways" but retained the original airline's livery. With its formation in 1974, British Airways' aeroplanes were given a new white, blue, and red colour scheme with a cropped Union Jack painted on their tail fins, designed by Negus & Negus. In 1984, a new livery designed by Landor Associates updated
3650-419: The grounds of Heathrow. British Airways' main base is at Heathrow Airport, but it also has a major presence at Gatwick Airport. It also has a base at London City Airport, where its subsidiary BA CityFlyer is the largest operator. BA had previously operated a significant hub at Manchester Airport . Manchester to New York (JFK) services were withdrawn; later all international services outside London ceased when
3723-628: The name to Elysair, at BA European's request. The CAA certificate eventually was surrendered in favour of operating under a certificate issued by the French Ministère de la Transition écologique et solidaire. OpenSkies' first flight, from New York, was on 19 June 2008, using a single Boeing 757 transferred from the BA fleet. In July 2008 BA bought French airline L'Avion for £54 million. BA European's operations merged with L'Avion on 4 April 2009, forming OpenSkies. In 2008, potential future routes for
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#17327725697763796-406: The nine months to 31 December 2010, and for the years to 31 December thereafter: In 2020, due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, British Airways had to reduce its 42,000-strong workforce by 12,000 jobs. According to the estimate by IAG, a parent company, it will take the air travel industry several years to return to previous performance and profitability levels. However, 2022 saw
3869-508: The ongoing problems, British Airways stated "The root cause was a power supply issue which our affected our IT systems - we continue to investigate this" and declined to comment further. Willie Walsh later attributed the crash to an electrical engineer disconnecting the UPS and said there would be an independent investigation. Amidst the decline in the value of Iranian currency due to the reintroduction of U.S. sanctions on Iran, BA announced that
3942-418: The operation of flights to the following destinations on behalf of Level , until the grounding of its aircraft and suspension of operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, followed by the airline's closure in July 2020: Starting in June 2008, OpenSkies operated scheduled flights to the following destinations under its own brand name until September 2018: OpenSkies had codeshare agreements with
4015-605: The same employees since operating under a new brand, with flight crew retrained to fly Airbus aircraft. On 8 July 2020, IAG reported the shutdown of OpenSkies due to the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on aviation and passenger demand. Following IAG's announcement however, reservations for flights operated by the airline were reopened at a later date for services resuming in October 2020, later postponed to December 2020, though operations ultimately never resumed and reservations were later closed. Starting in July 2018, OpenSkies began
4088-525: The stake in 2014. BA also owned a 10% stake in InterCapital and Regional Rail (ICRR), the company that managed the operations of Eurostar (UK) Ltd from 1998 to 2010, when the management of Eurostar was restructured. Staff working for British Airways are represented by a number of trade unions, pilots are represented by British Air Line Pilots' Association , cabin crew by British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (a branch of Unite
4161-537: The subsidiary BA Connect was sold. Passengers wishing to travel internationally with BA either to or from regional UK destinations must now transfer in London. Heathrow Airport is dominated by British Airways, which owns 50% of the slots available at the airport as of 2019, growing from 40% in 2004. The majority of BA services operate from Terminal 5 , with the exception of some flights at Terminal 3 owing to insufficient capacity at Terminal 5. At London City Airport,
4234-444: The surge in demand for flying this could lead to more disruption. British Airways is the largest airline based in the United Kingdom in terms of fleet size, international flights, and international destinations and was, until 2008, the largest airline by passenger numbers. The airline carried 34.6 million passengers in 2008, but, rival carrier easyJet transported 44.5 million passengers that year, passing British Airways for
4307-620: The takeover of the UK's "second" airline, British Caledonian, in July of that same year. The formation of Richard Branson 's Virgin Atlantic in 1984 created a competitor for BA. The intense rivalry between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic culminated in the former being sued for libel in 1993, arising from claims and counterclaims over a "dirty tricks" campaign against Virgin. This campaign included allegations of poaching Virgin Atlantic customers, tampering with private files belonging to Virgin, and undermining Virgin's financial reputation in
4380-497: The third-largest, after SkyTeam and Star Alliance . Proposals to establish a joint British airline, combining the assets of the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways (BEA), were first raised in 1953 as a result of difficulties in attempts by BOAC and BEA to negotiate air rights through the British colony of Cyprus . Increasingly BOAC was protesting that BEA
4453-528: The trans-Atlantic routes, but it was thrown out in 1999. In 1992 British Airways expanded through the acquisition of the financially troubled Dan-Air , giving BA a much larger presence at Gatwick Airport . British Asia Airways , a subsidiary based in Taiwan, was formed in March 1993 to operate between London and Taipei . That same month BA purchased a 25% stake in the Australian airline Qantas and, with
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#17327725697764526-420: The unions, various conferences and workshops have taken place, often with thousands in attendance. In 2005, wildcat action was taken by union members over a decision by Gate Gourmet not to renew the contracts of 670 workers and replace them with agency staff; it is estimated that the strike cost British Airways £30 million and caused disruption to 100,000 passengers. In October 2006, BA became involved in
4599-729: The unions: the story was later withdrawn. A strike was announced for May 2010, British Airways again sought an injunction. Members of the Socialist Workers Party disrupted negotiations between BA management and Unite to prevent industrial action. Further disruption struck when Derek Simpson , a Unite co-leader, was discovered to have leaked details of confidential negotiations online via Twitter. Industrial action re-emerged in 2017, this time by BA's Mixed Fleet flight attendants, whom were employed on much less favorable pay and terms and conditions compared to previous cabin staff who joined prior to 2010. A ballot for industrial action
4672-460: The £330 million which would be saved by the merger with Iberia. This merger was finalised on 21 January 2011, resulting in the establishment of International Airlines Group S.A. (IAG), the world's third-largest airline in terms of annual revenue and the second-largest airline group in Europe. Prior to merging, British Airways owned a 13.5% stake in Iberia, and thus received ownership of 55% of
4745-458: Was a full-service carrier and offered three class service cabins on board its aircraft, operating between Paris Orly Airport in France and both Newark and New York in the United States. OpenSkies ceased to operate under its own brand after summer 2018 to operate for IAG's new low-cost subsidiary brand Level . Following the suspension of operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020,
4818-613: Was assigned to the Newark – Paris Orly route on select days, entered service in August 2016. It also provided OpenSkies with a spare aircraft. In July 2018, the Airbus A330-200 was introduced to the OpenSkies fleet, branded as Level in preparation for the retirement of the OpenSkies brand. At the time of OpenSkies' brand retirement on 2 September 2018, the airline operated one Boeing 757-200 and one Boeing 767-300ER not under
4891-449: Was called off at the last minute, British Airways losing £80 million. In December 2009, a ballot for strike action over Christmas received a high level of support, action was blocked by a court injunction that deemed the ballot illegal. Negotiations failed to stop strike action in March, BA withdrew perks for strike participants. Allegations were made by The Guardian newspaper that BA had consulted outside firms methods to undermine
4964-920: Was distributed to Mixed Fleet crew in November 2016 and resulted in an overwhelming yes majority for industrial action. Unite described Mixed Fleet crew as on "poverty pay", with many Mixed Fleet flight attendants sleeping in their cars in between shifts because they cannot afford the fuel to drive home, or operating while sick as they cannot afford to call in sick and lose their pay for the shift. Unite also blasted BA of removing staff travel concessions, bonus payments and other benefits to all cabin crew who undertook industrial action, as well as strike-breaking tactics such as wet-leasing aircraft from other airlines and offering financial incentives for cabin crew not to strike. The first dates of strikes during Christmas 2016 were cancelled due to pay negotiations. Industrial action by Mixed Fleet commenced in January 2017 after rejecting
5037-525: Was first used in a 1984 advertisement directed by Tony Scott , in an arrangement by Howard Blake . It was reworked by Malcolm McLaren and Yanni for 1989's iconic "Face" advertisement , and subsequently appeared in many different arrangements between 1990 and 2010. The slogan 'the world's favourite airline', first used in 1983, was dropped in 2001 after Lufthansa overtook BA in terms of passenger numbers. Other advertising slogans have included "The World's Best Airline", "We'll Take More Care of You", "Fly
5110-412: Was launched in 2023. This design initiative also included English bone china manufactured by William Edwards and cutlery by Studio William for the company's first class service. In 2019, as part of the celebrations of a centenary of airline operations in the United Kingdom, British Airways announced that four aircraft would receive retro liveries. The first of these is a Boeing 747-400 (G-BYGC), which
5183-431: Was released in 2018, with Michael Caine , Olivia Colman , Jourdan Dunn , Naomie Harris , Joanna Lumley , and David Walliams . The two videos are part of Comic Relief's charity programme. On 17 April 2023, the airline launched a new safety video as a part of “A British Original” campaign, with Emma Raducanu , Robert Peston , Little Simz , and Steven Bartlett . The aeroplanes that British Airways inherited from
5256-446: Was repainted into the former BOAC livery, which it retained until its retirement. Two more Boeing 747-400s were repainted with former British Airways liveries. One wore the " Landor " livery until its retirement in 2020 (G-BNLY), the other (G-CIVB), wore the original "Union Jack" livery until its retirement in 2020 also. An Airbus A319 was repainted into British European Airways livery, which is still flying as G-EUPJ. On 28 April 2020,
5329-602: Was using its subsidiary Cyprus Airways to circumvent an agreement that BEA would not fly routes further east than Cyprus, particularly to the increasingly important oil regions in the Middle East . The chairman of BOAC, Miles Thomas, was in favour of a merger as a potential solution to this disagreement and had backing for the idea from the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, Rab Butler . However, opposition from
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