British Airways and Qantas Restart Talks About Possible Merger

After taking a break from talks, it now seems that British Airways and Iberia are bringing back up talks about a possible merger with Qantas. This news comes from British Airways chief executive, Willie Walsh.

Just last year, the plans for British Airways and Qantas to merge together were dismissed after the two carriers failed to agree over terms. However, it now seems that the merger between British Airways and Iberia, in which the two airlines will maintain their own brand identities and home bases, could serve as a new template for talks between British Airways and Qantas.

Despite this announcement from Willie Walsh, he did note that there were no concrete plans as of yet to such talks between the two airlines. He went on to say that having spent some time and efforts debating on the issue, he feels that the issues that kept the two airlines from linking up last time may not be insurmountable after all.

Of course, these are not the only talks that British Airways has been in recently. In fact, Willie Walsh has had several meetings with the union over changes made to the cabin crews’ working conditions. Walsh noted that he will not, in any way, compromise his cost cutting plans, despite the unions. The possible strike for Christmas will not change this fact. Walsh pointed out that this new dispute is very different from the one that took place in January of 2007, where a settlement was finally reached in the 11^th hour with flight attendants to avoid a strike action.