BA, Qantas merger talks off
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Merger talks between Qantas Airways and British Airways (BA) have ended, after
the carriers failed to agree on who would control the new company, reports said.
The negotiations were halted after BA Chief Executive Officer, Willie Walsh, and his Qantas counterpart, Alan Joyce, couldn’t reach agreement on the ownership split, a BA spokesman was quoted saying by Bloomberg. Both companies had revealed earlier this month that they were in merger talks to try to cut costs and limit the impact of a global recession.
Bloomberg said negotiations were tricky because BA has more revenue than Qantas and the Sydney-based carrier has a higher market value. It said BA’s pension deficit further complicated talks and the UK carrier was also under pressure from Spanish ally Iberia to complete a tie-up.
Although the consolidation talks are off, both airlines had said they would
continue to work on their joint business between Australia and the United
Kingdom through the oneworld global alliance, which brings together 10 of
the world’s carriers in a code-sharing partnership.
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