How AirAsia boss Tony Fernandes shrugged off the global recession September 5, 2010 IF Tony Fernandes, the chief executive of pioneering low-cost carrier AirAsia, ever suffered from shyness as child, he is certainly cured of it now. The UK-educated Malaysian entrepreneur, who founded the short haul airline in 2001 and its longhaul sister AirAsia X six years later, dominates the meeting room of his West End PR agency [...]
Canada’s coolest city is both French and friendly September 5, 2010 THERE’s a good reason why Montreal is known as Canada’s party town. Quebec’s capital – the capital of French Canada – bills itself as the festival capital of the world. Every year there are dozens of festivals celebrating anything and everything. But it’s not just the likes of the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Anarchist Book [...]
Spice set to give thumbs-up to £247m offer from Cinven by end of September September 2, 2010 UTILITIES services company Spice is expected to recommend a £247m offer from buyout house Cinven by the end of the month after announcing advanced talks yesterday. Cinven has locked Spice into exclusive discussions with a hefty break fee, meaning the prospect of an expensive bidding war with a mystery third party has receded. Spice has [...]
Unite threatens fresh strike ballot as bullying feud ignites August 31, 2010 TENSIONS between British Airways (BA) and Unite were re-ignited yesterday over allegations of bullying as the trade union representing the airline’s cabin crew warned of a possible fresh wave of strikes to be held over the Christmas period. An unresolved dispute over bullying allegations made by the union and BA staff during the previous 22 [...]
The drawbacks of defined contribution pensions August 31, 2010 IT HAS been a rocky couple of years for pension funds. Some high profile defined benefit plans, such as those of BT and British Airways, have suffered badly since the on-set of the financial crisis. But the problems that have hit defined contribution (DC) plans have not made the same waves in the media. The [...]
WHAT THE OTHER PAPERS SAY THIS MORNING August 30, 2010 FINANCIAL TIMES OSBORNE PLANS TREASURY STAFF CUTS George Osborne is planning to cut staff numbers at the Treasury by about one-quarter and scale back his department’s role as he attempts to lead by example in the search for sweeping spending cuts across Whitehall. The chancellor will reconvene the public spending “star chamber” this week and [...]
BA and Unite set to resume strike talks August 30, 2010 British Airways and union Unite, which represents 90 per cent of the airline’s cabin crew, are likely to meet again this week in a bid to end potential strikes that would cause travel chaos. Unite general secretary Tony Woodley was forced to reassure BA staff the union is committed to ending the dispute without damaging [...]
PERSONALITY OF THE YEAR August 30, 2010 IT’S been another tough year in the City. Stock markets are still nervy, the recovery is by no means secure and a double-dip is on many people’s cards. But it is hard times that form characters. Our five nominees for Personality of the Year have proved their mettle over the past 12 months. One is [...]
After a slump and a court case the Virgin airline boss is ready for more August 30, 2010 Virgin Atlantic boss Steve Ridgway is still dealing with the fallout from the collapse of a price-fixing trial involving his airline. Despite not actually facing any charges, his firm, which has always styled itself as the people’s champion, was battered and bruised by the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) case, which alleged collusion between Virgin [...]
Virgin Atlantic pilots poised to ground airline over holiday row August 23, 2010 VIRGIN Atlantic management are to meet with union Balpa today in a bid to avert a possible strike of its airline’s pilots as tensions mount over staff holidays and days off. The two are to meet in what Balpa calls “last ditch” talks to negotiate an agreement that could prevent a crippling strike by Virgin [...]