BA unlikely to weather the storm: Branson

LONDON: Richard Branson, the billionaire owner of Virgin Atlantic Airways, said he���s not sure British Airways will survive the recession and that the UK government should resist a bailout should the carrier collapse. ���If they do go bust the government should let them go bust,��� Branson said on Monday. ���Just because they were once the flag carrier doesn���t mean the government should come in and bail them out.���

Branson, whose Virgin Atlantic is the biggest rival to British Airways on long-haul routes from the UK, said he has no plans to make a bid for the larger carrier because it has too many liabilities and no paper value. BA chief executive officer Willie Walsh is cutting jobs and seeking to curb employee pay after the London-based airline reported a ��375 million ($617 million) loss for the 12 months ended March 31, its first full-year deficit since 2002. ���Willie Walsh is saying they are in a fight for survival and asking his staff to work for a month without pay,��� Branson said. ���These are obviously fairly desperate measures.��� Asked if BA would survive the slump, he said: ���I really don���t know.���

Howard Wheeldon, a senior strategist at BGC Partners in London, said Branson���s remarks were ���aimed at creating unnecessary fear amongst BA investors, staff and customer base��� and that Virgin itself faces similar problems. British Airways said it has no intention of seeking aid from the UK government. ���There are no talks with the government and there will be no talks,��� the carrier said. Douglas McNeill, an analyst at Astaire Securities, said British Airways is likely to survive the recession.