IAG becomes a reality
Shares in International Airlines Group (IAG) commenced trading today. IAG has been created as the new holding company for British Airways and Iberia, following the merger of the two companies. The final legal steps were completed over the weekend, the end of a long and complex transaction process. The IAG team also moved into our [...]
First flight on OpenSkies
Went on my first flight with OpenSkies last month. Being based in London, there hadn’t been much occasion to use the service before. But heading out to New York for a Board meeting, I decided to take the time to make a quick detour via Paris. The service was excellent in every way. Great seats, [...]
Finally
We finally secured approval this week for an immunised deal with our alliance partners American Airlines and Iberia. It has been a long time coming. The final step was to secure approval from the US Department of Transport, which was granted last Tuesday evening, fourteen years after we first attempted to get a deal approved [...]
Busy week
Last week was a busy one. On Sunday, I flew out to Mexico for a oneworld meeting and to welcome Mexicana into the alliance. I flew back via Madrid and arrived back in London just as the merger agreement between BA and Iberia was announced. It’s taken a long time to get there, but fantastic [...]
London City New York, first flight
I was at London City airport this morning to see off the first BA flight to New York. It took me over an hour and a half to get there from my office near Heathrow. Which is the point really – if you live or work on the east side of London, that’s how much [...]
What a week
Another set of flights moved across to terminal 5 this week, the biggest move since the first day. All went smoothly. The same cannot be said for the financial markets last week. ‘A week is a long time in politics’, they say. Nowadays a week is a long time, period.
Green
We switched a further 15 longhaul flights to T5 today – the first since the less than successful opening day. The media were on hand to write the “more chaos at T5 story” but left disappointed. It was a fabulous day for the airline and more importantly for our customers. The terminal and our operation [...]
T5 still keeping me awake at night
Day three and things are going a little better with T5, but still extremely ‘fragile’. Here is a photo I took on the first morning, before any problems emerged. It is still such a wonderful terminal, I just hope the systems start working more reliably soon.
T5, nearly open for business
Well, only a few hours to go before T5 is finally open for business. The first flight scheduled to arrive in T5 left Hong Kong 4 minutes early, so we’re off to a good start. I’m away to bed, since I need to get up at 3:15am (!) tomorrow. An exciting day ahead.
I hate baggage systems
A day which started high and ended low. I’m dog-tired and going to bed. Hopefully tomorrow will be a better day.