BA in US court over price-fixing

[demoleft]

Source: BBC

British Airways executives will appear in a US court on Thursday facing anti-trust charges for their role in fixing the prices of fuel surcharges.

BA will plead guilty to illegally setting surcharge levels in cooperation with rival Virgin Atlantic.

It is expected the court will uphold the $300m (£150.1m) fine imposed on the airline by the Department of Justice.

The ruling could open the way for a class action suit by thousands of US customers of BA who were overcharged.



Read more: http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/business/6959725.stm

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..."open the way for a class action suit by thousands of US customers"...

WOW!

[demoleft]

1. "BA execs to learn fate over price-fixing" - The Guardian

"Because the investigation into cargo surcharges is under investigation by the US DoJ and not a UK authority, anyone under suspicion with regard to cargo surcharges could be extradited to the US if they are charged. They could face 10 years in jail.

However, individuals named as part of an investigation into the fixing of passenger fuel surcharges could be spared extradition, because their case is also subject to a criminal investigation by the Office of Fair Trading.

Earlier this month, BA was fined £270m by authorities on both sides of the Atlantic after it admitting fixing the price of fuel surcharges for long-haul passenger flights and its cargo business. This includes a $300m (£150m) fine from the DoJ."

The Guardian, http://www.guardian.co.uk/airlines/story/0,,2154788,00.html?gusrc=rss&feed=networkfront

[bigworld]

2. So how come Virgin isn't charged with anything?

[muriel_volestrangler]

3. In Britain, they did a deal

From the BBC story:

As rival Virgin Atlantic tipped off the OFT about the price-fixing scandal, it was granted immunity.