BA virgin price fixing case: It has been confirmed, and the Virgin Atlantic boss Steve Ridgway admitted he knew about collusion with British Airways over fixing the price of fuel surcharges.
BA was fined more than £120 million by the Office of Fair Trading and an additional $300 million from the US Department of Justice.
The Richard Branson-owned airline blew the whistle on the collusion three years ago and have subsequently been rather disgracefully, guaranteed immunity from trial and conviction.
According to press reports his name was read out at Southwark Crown Court in London yesterday, where one BA director and three former BA executives pleaded not guilty to cartel offences.
A Virgin Atlantic statement on behalf of Steve Ridgway said: “I apologise unreservedly for my involvement in the case. I have fully co-operated with the competition authorities since their enquiries began in 2006.
He then goes on to say: “Although I did not have any direct contact with BA in relation to the passenger fuel surcharges, I regret that, on becoming aware of the discussions, I did not take steps to stop them.”
The men involved in the trial are Drew Crawley, BA’s director of global sales and marketing; Martin George, the airline’s former operations director; Iain Burns, former director of communications; and Alan Burnett, former head of UK sales.
They yesterday pleaded not guilty to the charge of price-fixing at Southwark Crown Court.
The trial is due to take place on January 18 and should last three months
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