LONDON, July 26 (UPI) -- Four British Airways officials may be charged with price-fixing in a case that could have major implications, the Financial Times reported Saturday.
Three of them are former executives and one, Andrew Crawley, is British Airways' current head of sales, the business newspaper said. The action is being brought by Britain's Office of Fair Trading and is only the second-ever cartel case brought by the body, the Financial Times said.
The newspaper reported that OFT's decision to prosecute, which will be announced within weeks, is part of a United States-led international crackdown on price-fixing in an assortment of industries and is sending shockwaves through multinational corporations. The landmark suit claims British Airways and Virgin Atlantic conspired between 2004 and 2006 to fix the price of passenger fuel surcharges on transatlantic flights.
Others to be charged in the case include Martin George, British Airways' former commercial director and board member; Iain Burns, its former head of communications; and Alan Burnett, former head of U.K. and Ireland sales, the report said.
