British Airways

British Airways was conceived in 1974, when the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways Corporation (BEA) managements were combined under the newly formed British Airways Board. British Airways received its private status much later in 1987, by merging two regional airlines Cambrian Airways and Northeast Airlines, along with the British Overseas Airways Corporation and British European Airways. In 1992, British Airways ran into a hostile relation with Virgin Atlantic, due to which it had to pay exorbitant sums to the latter as fine. Following this, the management changed several times and finally in September 1998, British Airways along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific Airways, Qantas and the now defunct Canadian Airlines, agreed to form the oneworld airline alliance in order to better compete with the growing Star Alliance members, only to emerge as one of the largest airline alliances in the world! In 2008, British Airways launched its new subsidiary OpenSkies which takes advantage of the liberalisation of transatlantic traffic rights between Europe and the United States. OpenSkies flies non-stop from Paris to New York and Washington D.C. In July 2010, British Airways was granted permission by the European Commission to merge with Spanish carrier, Iberia, and to co-ordinate with American Airlines on fares and scheduling for transatlantic routes. This deal is expected to be operational by the end of 2010.