BRITISH Airways director of marketing Martin George
reckons the airline won’t survive unless something drastic is done – and it
looks like the bookies agree with him.
Travel Weekly contacted financial bookmakers Blue
Square to find out just what the odds were on the ‘nation’s favourite’ carrier
going under by December 31 next year. And it only offered a meagre 25-1.
The cut-price odds show how low City confidence in BA
has sunk as losses have mounted since September 11.
Blue Square partner Ed Pownall said: “The odds are low
because of the situation BA is in. Look at the way its share price has plunged.
“In the past we could have expected governments to
step in to save their national carriers, but after what happened to Sabena and
Swissair, the situation has changed. The aviation industry cannot legislate
against the terrorism we’ve seen and is in trouble as a result, but BA is
performing especially badly.”