News

Price fixing in the dock

BRITISH AIRWAYS' head of sales Andrew Crawley is one of four men reportedly charged by the Office of Fair Trading with criminal price- fixing offences. The other three are Martin George, BA's former commercial director; Iain Burns, the airline's former head of communications; and Alan Burnett, former head of UK and Ireland sales.

The case, which is due to be heard in September at the City of London magistrates' court, relates to allegations that they conspired with unnamed Virgin Atlantic employees to 'fix' fuel surcharges. It is believed to be the first high-profile prosecution of its kind since price fixing became a criminal 'cartel offence' in 2003. George and Burns resigned, and Burnett retired, in 2006.