Fasten your seatbelts: BA hit by £292m loss

British Airways has not escaped the economic turbulence affecting airlines worldwide. Yesterday it announced a pre-tax loss of £292m for the six months to the end of September - the company's worst ever interim loss since privatisation in 1987.

The figures were worse than expected. Analysts had forecast a £252m loss.

Revenue for the period was down 13.7 per cent and, with the drop-off in business travel and freight cargo numbers not expected to improve during the recession, and the price of fuel still volatile, there's no sign of a swift correction. "Aviation remains in recession with revenue likely to be £1bn lower this year," said BA chief executive Willie Walsh.

The only bright spot on BA's horizon was the launch in September of the all-business flight service from London City airport to JFK. Book levels are said to be "ahead of expectations".

Otherwise, it's a gloomy outlook - exacerbated by the threat of a cabin crew strike over BA's plans for job cuts and a pay freeze. The result of the strike vote by 14,000 members of the Unite union will be known on December 14.

Yesterday, the High Court rejected an application from Unite for an injunction to stop BA reducing the number of staff on long-haul flights - a crew of 15 flying to the States would be cut to 14, for instance. However, the union has temporarily won the broader argument - that BA may have breached staff contracts - and the airline is due in court on February 1.

BA's poor showing comes after a run of bad figures from airlines:
♦ Japan Airlines (JAL) made a loss of $1bn between April and June. As a result, it was announced last week that the company would be put under the supervision of a state-backed turnaround body. The news came shortly after JAL had announced 6,800 job cuts.

♦ Delta, the world's biggest carrier after buying Northwest Airlines a year ago, lost $161m in the three months to the end of September, compared with $50m in the same quarter the previous year. In the States, US Airways, United Airlines and American Airlines have all reported losses too.

♦ Aer Lingus, the Irish Airline, reported last month that it was seeking to cut 800 jobs in order to save more than €100m a year in staff costs. The company lost €74m in the six months to the end of June, three times its loss in the same period the year before.