The Great Debate UK
Pension deficit weighs on British Airways
– Margaret Doyle is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are her own –
Willie Walsh has no incentive to be bullish right now. He has had British Airways on cold rations since joining as chief executive-designate four years ago, and another set of tough union negotiations looms.
However, a poor set of annual results shows that — even had he wanted to — there is no disguising the pension situation: dire and getting worse.
The accounting deficit widened by 1.2 billion pounds last year. Even that picture is reckoned to be too optimistic.
BA-Iberia must fast-track reality flight
– Alexander Smith is a Reuters columnist. The opinions expressed are his own –
Anglo-Spanish dealmaking has a chequered recent history — look no further than Ferrovial’s disastrous takeover of airports operator BAA. But this shouldn’t put British Airways and Iberia off fast tracking their planned tie-up to help stem losses.
from The Great Debate:
Do we need a credit policy?
-- John Kemp is a Reuters columnist. The views expressed are his own --
The last eighteen months have witnessed a revolution in financial regulation -- if by that we mean a fundamental reconstruction, total change or turn round from the previous orthodoxy occurring in a relatively compressed time.
In particular, the sheer scale of recent policy interventions in the banking system is throwing up very uncomfortable questions about the government's role in the economy, centered on its function as the ultimate re-insurer of risk and its function via the central bank as "lender of last resort" (LOLR) to the banking system.
