Total Quality Management

Total quality management
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Total quality management or TQM is an integrative philosophy of management for continuously improving the quality of products and processes. [1] TQM functions on the premise that the quality of products and processes is the responsibility of everyone who is involved with the creation or consumption of the products or services offered by an organization. In other words, TQM capitalizes on the involvement of management, workforce, suppliers, and even customers, in order to meet or exceed customer expectations. Considering the practices of TQM as discussed in six empirical studies, Cua, McKone, and Schroeder (2001) identified the nine common TQM practices as cross-functional product design, process management, supplier quality management, customer involvement, information and feedback, committed leadership, strategic planning, cross-functional training, and employee involvement. [2]

Contents
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1 TQM and Six Sigma 2 See also 3 Further reading 4 References

[edit] TQM and Six Sigma
The Six Sigma management strategy originated in 1986 from Motorola’s drive towards reducing defects by minimizing variation in processes. [3] The main difference between TQM and Six Sigma (a newer concept) is the approach.[4] At its core, Total Quality Management (TQM) is a management approach to long-term success through customer satisfaction. In a TQM effort, all members of an organization participate in improving processes, products, services and the culture in which they work. The methods for implementing this approach come from people such as Philip B. Crosby, W. Edwards Deming, Armand V. Feigenbaum, Kaoru Ishikawa and Joseph M. Juran.

Electronic commerce
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search
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Electronic commerce
Online goods and services
Streaming media Electronic books Software

Retail services Banking Food ordering Online flower delivery Online pharmacy DVD-by-mail Travel Marketplace services Trading communities Auctions • Online wallet Advertising Price comparison service Social commerce Mobile commerce Payment · Ticketing Banking E-procurement Purchase-to-pay This box:
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Electronic commerce, commonly known as e-commerce, ecommerce, eCommerce or ecomm, refers to the buying and selling of products or services over electronic systems such as the Internet and other computer networks. Electronic commerce draws on such technologies as electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange (EDI), inventory management

systems, and automated data collection systems. Modern electronic commerce typically uses the World Wide Web at least at one point in the transaction's life-cycle, although it may encompass a wider range of technologies such as e-mail, mobile devices and telephones as well. A large percentage of electronic commerce is conducted entirely in electronic form for virtual items such as access to premium content on a website, but mostly electronic commerce involves the transportation of physical items in some way. Online retailers are sometimes known as e-tailers and online retail is sometimes known as e-tail. Almost all big retailers are now electronically present on the World Wide Web. Electronic commerce that takes place between businesses is referred to as business-tobusiness or B2B. B2B can be open to all interested parties (e.g. commodity exchange) or limited to specific, pre-qualified participants (private electronic market). Electronic commerce that takes place between businesses and consumers, on the other hand, is referred to as business-to-consumer or B2C. This is the type of electronic commerce conducted by companies such as Amazon.com. Online shopping is a form of electronic commerce where the buyer is directly online to the seller's computer usually via the internet. There is often no intermediary service involved, and the sale or purchase transaction is completed electronically and interactively in real-time. However in some cases, an intermediary may be present in a sale or purchase transaction, or handling recurring or one-time purchase transactions for online games. Electronic commerce is generally considered to be the sales aspect of e-business. It also consists of the exchange of data to facilitate the financing and payment aspects of business transactions.

Contents
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1 History o 1.1 Early development o 1.2 Timeline 2 Business applications 3 Governmental regulation 4 Forms 5 Global trends 6 Impact on markets and retailers 7 Distribution channels 8 See also 9 References 10 External links

[edit] History
[edit] Early development
Originally, electronic commerce was identified as the facilitation of commercial transactions electronically, using technology such as Electronic Data Interchange (EDI) and Electronic Funds Transfer (EFT). These were both introduced in the late 1970s, allowing businesses to send commercial documents like purchase orders or invoices electronically. The growth and acceptance of credit cards, automated teller machines (ATM) and telephone banking in the 1980s were also forms of electronic commerce. Another form of e-commerce was the airline reservation system typified by Sabre in the USA and Travicom in the UK. From the 1990s onwards, electronic commerce would additionally include enterprise resource planning systems (ERP), data mining and data warehousing In 1990, Tim Berners-Lee invented the WorldWideWeb web browser and transformed an academic telecommunication network into a worldwide everyman everyday communication system called internet/www. Commercial enterprise on the Internet was strictly prohibited by NSF until 1995.[1] Although the Internet became popular worldwide around 1994 with the adoption of Mosaic web browser, it took about five years to introduce security protocols and DSL allowing continual connection to the Internet. By the end of 2000, many European and American business companies offered their services through the World Wide Web. Since then people began to associate a word "ecommerce" with the ability of purchasing various goods through the Internet using secure protocols and electronic payment services.

[edit] Timeline
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1979: Michael Aldrich invented online shopping[2] 1981: Thomson Holidays, UK is first B2B online shopping[citation needed] 1982: Minitel was introduced nationwide in France by France Telecom and used for online ordering. 1984: Gateshead SIS/Tesco is first B2C online shopping and Mrs Snowball, 72, is the first online home shopper[3] 1984: In April 1984, CompuServe launches the Electronic Mall in the USA and Canada. It is the first comprehensive electronic commerce service.[4] 1985: Nissan UK sells cars and finance with credit checking to customers online from dealers' lots.[citation needed] 1987: Swreg begins to provide software and shareware authors means to sell their products online through an electronic Merchant account.[citation needed] 1990: Tim Berners-Lee writes the first web browser, WorldWideWeb, using a NeXT computer. 1992: Terry Brownell launches first fully graphical, iconic navigated Bulletin board system online shopping using RoboBOARD/FX.

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1994: Netscape releases the Navigator browser in October under the code name Mozilla. Pizza Hut offers online ordering on its Web page. The first online bank opens. Attempts to offer flower delivery and magazine subscriptions online. Adult materials also become commercially available, as do cars and bikes. Netscape 1.0 is introduced in late 1994 SSL encryption that made transactions secure. 1995: Thursday 27 April 1995, the purchase of a book by Paul Stanfield, Product Manager for CompuServe UK, from W H Smith’s shop within CompuServe’s UK Shopping Centre is the UK’s first national online shopping service secure transaction. The shopping service at launch featured WH Smith, Tesco, Virgin/Our Price, Great Universal Stores/GUS, Interflora, Dixons Retail, Past Times, PC World (retailer) and Innovations.[5] 1995: Jeff Bezos launches Amazon.com and the first commercial-free 24 hour, internet-only radio stations, Radio HK and NetRadio start broadcasting. Dell and Cisco begin to aggressively use Internet for commercial transactions. eBay is founded by computer programmer Pierre Omidyar as AuctionWeb. 1998: Electronic postal stamps can be purchased and downloaded for printing from the Web. 1998: Alibaba Group is established in China. And it leverage China's B2B and C2C, B2C(Taobao) market by its Authentication System. 1999: Business.com sold for US $7.5 million to eCompanies, which was purchased in 1997 for US $149,000. The peer-to-peer filesharing software Napster launches. ATG Stores launches to sell decorative items for the home online. 2000: The dot-com bust. 2001: Alibaba.com achieved profitability in December 2001. 2002: eBay acquires PayPal for $1.5 billion.[6] Niche retail companies Wayfair and NetShops are founded with the concept of selling products through several targeted domains, rather than a central portal. 2003: Amazon.com posts first yearly profit. 2004: DHgate.com, China's first online b2b transaction platform, is established, forcing other b2b sites to move away from the "yellow pages" model.[7] 2005: Yuval Tal founds Payoneer- a secure online payment distribution solution 2007: Business.com acquired by R.H. Donnelley for $345 million.[8] 2009: Zappos.com acquired by Amazon.com for $928 million.[9] Retail Convergence, operator of private sale website RueLaLa.com, acquired by GSI Commerce for $180 million, plus up to $170 million in earn-out payments based on performance through 2012.[10] 2010: Groupon reportedly rejects a $6 billion offer from Google. Instead, the group buying websites plans to go ahead with an IPO in mid-2011.[11] 2011: Online payment and recurring billing services provider Vindicia, developer of the CashBox SaaS billing solution, is named the 20th fastest growing company in Silicon Valley. [12] 2011: US eCommerce and Online Retail sales projected to reach $197 billion, an increase of 12 percent over 2010.[13] Quidsi.com, parent company of Diapers.com, acquired by Amazon.com for $500 million in cash plus $45 million in debt and other obligations.[14] GSI Commerce, a company specializing in creating,

developing and running online shopping sites for brick and mortar businesses, acquired by eBay for $2.4 billion.[15]

[edit] Business applications

An example of an automated online assistant on a merchandising website. Some common applications related to electronic commerce are the following:
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Document automation in supply chain and logistics Domestic and international payment systems Enterprise content management Group buying Automated online assistants Instant messaging Newsgroups Online shopping and order tracking Online banking Online office suites Shopping cart software Teleconferencing Electronic tickets

[edit] Governmental regulation
The examples and perspective in this United States may not represent a worldwide view of the subject. Please improve this article and discuss the issue on the talk page. (March 2011) In the United States, some electronic commerce activities are regulated by the Federal Trade Commission (FTC). These activities include the use of commercial e-mails, online

advertising and consumer privacy. The CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 establishes national standards for direct marketing over e-mail. The Federal Trade Commission Act regulates all forms of advertising, including online advertising, and states that advertising must be truthful and non-deceptive.[16] Using its authority under Section 5 of the FTC Act, which prohibits unfair or deceptive practices, the FTC has brought a number of cases to enforce the promises in corporate privacy statements, including promises about the security of consumers’ personal information.[17] As result, any corporate privacy policy related to ecommerce activity may be subject to enforcement by the FTC. The Ryan Haight Online Pharmacy Consumer Protection Act of 2008, which came into law in 2008, amends the Controlled Substances Act to address online pharmacies.[18] Internationally there is the International Consumer Protection and Enforcement Network (ICPEN), which was formed in 1991 from an informal network of government customer fair trade organisations. The purpose was stated as being to find ways of co-operating on tackling consumer problems connected with cross-border transactions in both goods and services, and to help ensure exchanges of information among the participants for mutual benefit and understanding. From this came econsumer, as an initiative of ICPEN since April 2001. www.econsumer.gov is a portal to report complaints about online and related transactions with foreign companies. There is also Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) was established in 1989 with the vision of achieving stability, security and prosperity for the region through free and open trade and investment. APEC has an Electronic Commerce Stearing Group aswell as working on common privacy regulations throughout the APEC region. In Australia, Trade is covered under Australian Treasury Guidelines for electronic commerce [19], and the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission [20] regulates and offers advice on how to deal with businesses online[21], and offers specific advice on what happens if things go wrong. [22]. Also Australian government ecommerce website [23] provides information on ecommerce in Australia.

[edit] Forms
Contemporary electronic commerce involves everything from ordering "digital" content for immediate online consumption, to ordering conventional goods and services, to "meta" services to facilitate other types of electronic commerce. On the institutional level, big corporations and financial institutions use the internet to exchange financial data to facilitate domestic and international business. Data integrity and security are very hot and pressing issues for electronic commerce.

[edit] Global trends
Business models across the world also continue to change drastically with the advent of eCommerce and this change is not just restricted to USA. Other countries are also contributing to the growth of eCommerce. For example, the United Kingdom has the biggest e-commerce market in the world when measured by the amount spent per capita, even higher than the USA. The internet economy in UK is likely to grow by 10% between 2010 to 2015. This has led to changing dynamics for the advertising industry[24] Amongst emerging economies, China's eCommerce presence continues to expand. With 384 million internet users,China's online shopping sales rose to $36.6 billion in 2009 and one of the reasons behind the huge growth has been the improved trust level for shoppers. The Chinese retailers have been able to help consumers feel more comfortable shopping online.[25] eCommerce is also expanding across the Middle East. Having recorded the world’s fastest growth in internet usage between 2000 and 2009, the region is now home to more than 60 million internet users. Retail, travel and gaming are the region’s top eCommerce segments, in spite of difficulties such as the lack of region-wide legal frameworks and logistical problems in cross-border transportation.[26] E-Commerce has become an important tool for businesses worldwide not only to sell to customers but also to engage them.[27]

[edit] Impact on markets and retailers
Economists have theorized that e-commerce ought to lead to intensified price competition, as it increases consumers' ability to gather information about products and prices. Research by four economists at the University of Chicago has found that the growth of online shopping has also affected industry structure in two areas that have seen significant growth in e-commerce, bookshops and travel agencies. Generally, larger firms have grown at the expense of smaller ones, as they are able to use economies of scale and offer lower prices. The lone exception to this pattern has been the very smallest category of bookseller, shops with between one and four employees, which appear to have withstood the trend.[28]

[edit] Distribution channels
E-commerce has grown in importance as companies have adopted Pure-Click and Brick and Click channel systems. We can distinguish between pure-click and brick and click channel system adopted by companies.
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Pure-Click companies are those that have launched a website without any previous existence as a firm. It is imperative that such companies must set up and operate their e-commerce websites very carefully. Customer service is of paramount importance. Brick and Click companies are those existing companies that have added an online site for e-commerce. Initially, Brick and Click companies were skeptical whether or not to add an online e-commerce channel for fear that selling their products might

produce channel conflict with their off-line retailers, agents, or their own stores. However, they eventually added internet to their distribution channel portfolio after seeing how much business their online competitors were generating.

Knowledge management
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search Knowledge management (KM) comprises a range of strategies and practices used in an organization to identify, create, represent, distribute, and enable adoption of insights and experiences. Such insights and experiences comprise knowledge, either embodied in individuals or embedded in organizations as processes or practices. An established discipline since 1991 (see Nonaka 1991), KM includes courses taught in the fields of business administration, information systems, management, and library and information sciences (Alavi & Leidner 1999). More recently, other fields have started contributing to KM research; these include information and media, computer science, public health, and public policy. Many large companies and non-profit organizations have resources dedicated to internal KM efforts, often as a part of their business strategy, information technology, or human resource management departments (Addicott, McGivern & Ferlie 2006). Several consulting companies also exist that provide strategy and advice regarding KM to these organizations. Knowledge management efforts typically focus on organizational objectives such as improved performance, competitive advantage, innovation, the sharing of lessons learned, integration and continuous improvement of the organization. KM efforts overlap with organizational learning, and may be distinguished from that by a greater focus on the management of knowledge as a strategic asset and a focus on encouraging the sharing of knowledge.

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1 History 2 Research o 2.1 Dimensions o 2.2 Strategies o 2.3 Motivations o 2.4 Technologies o 2.5 Knowledge Managers 3 Knowledge Management System o 3.1 Benefits & Issues of knowledge management

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4 See also 5 Notes 6 References 7 External links

[edit] History
KM efforts have a long history, to include on-the-job discussions, formal apprenticeship, discussion forums, corporate libraries, professional training and mentoring programs. More recently, with increased use of computers in the second half of the 20th century, specific adaptations of technologies such as knowledge bases, expert systems, knowledge repositories, group decision support systems, intranets, and computer-supported cooperative work have been introduced to further enhance such efforts.[1] In 1999, the term personal knowledge management was introduced which refers to the management of knowledge at the individual level (Wright 2005). In terms of the enterprise, early collections of case studies recognized the importance of knowledge management dimensions of strategy, process, and measurement (Morey, Maybury & Thuraisingham 2002). Key lessons learned included: people and the cultural norms which influence their behaviors are the most critical resources for successful knowledge creation, dissemination, and application; cognitive, social, and organizational learning processes are essential to the success of a knowledge management strategy; and measurement, benchmarking, and incentives are essential to accelerate the learning process and to drive cultural change. In short, knowledge management programs can yield impressive benefits to individuals and organizations if they are purposeful, concrete, and action-oriented. More recently with the advent of the Web 2.0, the concept of Knowledge Management has evolved towards a vision more based on people participation and emergence. This line of evolution is termed Enterprise 2.0 (McAfee 2006). However, there is an ongoing debate and discussions (Lakhani & McAfee 2007) as to whether Enterprise 2.0 is just a fad that does not bring anything new or useful or whether it is, indeed, the future of knowledge management (Davenport 2008).

[edit] Research
KM emerged as a scientific discipline in the earlier 1990s. It was initially supported solely by practitioners, when Skandia hired Leif Edvinsson of Sweden as the world’s first Chief Knowledge Officer (CKO). Hubert Saint-Onge (formerly of CIBC, Canada), started investigating various sides of KM long before that. The objective of CKOs is to manage and maximize the intangible assets of their organizations. Gradually, CKOs became interested in not only practical but also theoretical aspects of KM, and the new research field was formed. The KM ideas taken up by academics, such as Ikujiro Nonaka

(Hitotsubashi University), Hirotaka Takeuchi (Hitotsubashi University), Thomas H. Davenport (Babson College) and Baruch Lev (New York University). In 2001, Thomas A. Stewart, former editor at FORTUNE Magazine and subsequently the editor of Harvard Business Review, published a cover story highlighting the importance of intellectual capital of organizations. Since its establishment, the KM discipline has been gradually moving towards academic maturity. First, there is a trend towards higher cooperation among academics; particularly, there has been a drop in single-authored publications. Second, the role of practitioners has changed. Their contribution to academic research has been dramatically declining from 30% of overall contributions up to 2002, to only 10% by 2009 (Serenko et al. 2010). A broad range of thoughts on the KM discipline exist; approaches vary by author and school. As the discipline matures, academic debates have increased regarding both the theory and practice of KM, to include the following perspectives[citation needed]:
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Techno-centric with a focus on technology, ideally those that enhance knowledge sharing and creation. Organizational with a focus on how an organization can be designed to facilitate knowledge processes best. Ecological with a focus on the interaction of people, identity, knowledge, and environmental factors as a complex adaptive system akin to a natural ecosystem.

Regardless of the school of thought, core components of KM include people, processes, technology (or) culture, structure, technology, depending on the specific perspective (Spender & Scherer 2007). Different KM schools of thought include various lenses through which KM can be viewed and explained, to include:
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community of practice (Wenger, McDermott & Synder 2001)[2] social network analysis[3] intellectual capital (Bontis & Choo 2002)[4] information theory[5] (McInerney 2002) complexity science[6][7] constructivism[8] (Nanjappa & Grant 2003)

The practical relevance of academic research in KM has been questioned (Ferguson 2005) with action research suggested as having more relevance (Andriessen 2004) and the need to translate the findings presented in academic journals to a practice (Booker, Bontis & Serenko 2008).

[edit] Dimensions
Different frameworks for distinguishing between different 'types of' knowledge exist. One proposed framework for categorizing the dimensions of knowledge distinguishes between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge. Tacit knowledge represents internalized knowledge that an individual may not be consciously aware of, such as how he or she accomplishes particular tasks. At the opposite end of the spectrum, explicit knowledge

represents knowledge that the individual holds consciously in mental focus, in a form that can easily be communicated to others.[9] (Alavi & Leidner 2001). Similarly, Hayes and Walsham (2003) describe content and relational perspectives of knowledge and knowledge management as two fundamentally different epistemological perspectives. The content perspective suggest that knowledge is easily stored because it may be codified, while the relational perspective recognizes the contextual and relational aspects of knowledge which can make knowledge difficult to share outside of the specific location where the knowledge is developed.[10]

Organizational Learning and Knowledge Management Ref : NITC SOMS

The Knowledge Spiral as described by Nonaka & Takeuchi. Early research suggested that a successful KM effort needs to convert internalized tacit knowledge into explicit knowledge in order to share it, but the same effort must also permit individuals to internalize and make personally meaningful any codified knowledge retrieved from the KM effort. Subsequent research into KM suggested that a distinction between tacit knowledge and explicit knowledge represented an oversimplification and that the notion of explicit knowledge is self-contradictory. Specifically, for knowledge to be made explicit, it must be translated into information (i.e., symbols outside of our heads) (Serenko & Bontis 2004). Later on, Ikujiro Nonaka proposed a model (SECI for Socialization, Externalization, Combination, Internalization) which considers a spiraling knowledge process interaction between explicit knowledge and tacit knowledge (Nonaka & Takeuchi 1995). In this model, knowledge follows a cycle in which implicit knowledge is 'extracted' to become explicit knowledge, and explicit knowledge is 're-internalized' into implicit knowledge. More recently, together with Georg von Krogh, Nonaka returned to his earlier work in an attempt to move the debate about knowledge conversion forwards (Nonaka & von Krogh 2009).

A second proposed framework for categorizing the dimensions of knowledge distinguishes between embedded knowledge of a system outside of a human individual (e.g., an information system may have knowledge embedded into its design) and embodied knowledge representing a learned capability of a human body’s nervous and endocrine systems (Sensky 2002). A third proposed framework for categorizing the dimensions of knowledge distinguishes between the exploratory creation of "new knowledge" (i.e., innovation) vs. the transfer or exploitation of "established knowledge" within a group, organization, or community. Collaborative environments such as communities of practice or the use of social computing tools can be used for both knowledge creation and transfer.[11]

[edit] Strategies
Knowledge may be accessed at three stages: before, during, or after KM-related activities. Different organizations have tried various knowledge capture incentives, including making content submission mandatory and incorporating rewards into performance measurement plans. Considerable controversy exists over whether incentives work or not in this field and no consensus has emerged. One strategy to KM involves actively managing knowledge (push strategy). In such an instance, individuals strive to explicitly encode their knowledge into a shared knowledge repository, such as a database, as well as retrieving knowledge they need that other individuals have provided to the repository.[12] This is also commonly known as the Codification approach to KM. Another strategy to KM involves individuals making knowledge requests of experts associated with a particular subject on an ad hoc basis (pull strategy). In such an instance, expert individual(s) can provide their insights to the particular person or people needing this (Snowden 2002). This is also commonly known as the Personalization approach to KM. Other knowledge management strategies and instruments for companies include:
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rewards (as a means of motivating for knowledge sharing) storytelling (as a means of transferring tacit knowledge) cross-project learning after action reviews knowledge mapping (a map of knowledge repositories within a company accessible by all) communities of practice expert directories (to enable knowledge seeker to reach to the experts) best practice transfer knowledge fairs competence management (systematic evaluation and planning of competences of individual organization members)

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proximity & architecture (the physical situation of employees can be either conducive or obstructive to knowledge sharing) master-apprentice relationship collaborative technologies (groupware, etc.) knowledge repositories (databases, bookmarking engines, etc.) measuring and reporting intellectual capital (a way of making explicit knowledge for companies) knowledge brokers (some organizational members take on responsibility for a specific "field" and act as first reference on whom to talk about a specific subject) social software (wikis, social bookmarking, blogs, etc.) Inter-project knowledge transfer

[edit] Motivations
A number of claims exist as to the motivations leading organizations to undertake a KM effort.[13] Typical considerations driving a KM effort include:
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Making available increased knowledge content in the development and provision of products and services Achieving shorter new product development cycles Facilitating and managing innovation and organizational learning Leveraging the expertise of people across the organization Increasing network connectivity between internal and external individuals Managing business environments and allowing employees to obtain relevant insights and ideas appropriate to their work Solving intractable or wicked problems Managing intellectual capital and intellectual assets in the workforce (such as the expertise and know-how possessed by key individuals)

Debate exists whether KM is more than a passing fad, though increasing amount of research in this field may hopefully help to answer this question, as well as create consensus on what elements of KM help determine the success or failure of such efforts (Wilson 2002).[14]

[edit] Technologies
Early KM technologies included online corporate yellow pages as expertise locators and document management systems. Combined with the early development of collaborative technologies (in particular Lotus Notes), KM technologies expanded in the mid-1990s. Subsequent KM efforts leveraged semantic technologies for search and retrieval and the development of e-learning tools for communities of practice[15] (Capozzi 2007). Knowledge management systems can thus be categorized as falling into one or more of the following groups: Groupware, document management systems, expert systems, semantic networks, relational and object oriented databases, simulation tools, and artificial intelligence [16] (Gupta & Sharma 2004)

More recently, development of social computing tools (such as bookmarks, blogs, and wikis) have allowed more unstructured, self-governing or ecosystem approaches to the transfer, capture and creation of knowledge, including the development of new forms of communities, networks, or matrixed organizations. However such tools for the most part are still based on text and code, and thus represent explicit knowledge transfer. These tools face challenges in distilling meaningful re-usable knowledge and ensuring that their content is transmissible through diverse channels[17](Andrus 2005). Software tools in knowledge management are a collection of technologies and are not necessarily acquired as a single software solution. Furthermore, these knowledge management software tools have the advantage of using the organization existing information technology infrastructure. Organizations and business decision makers spend a great deal of resources and make significant investments in the latest technology, systems and infrastructure to support knowledge management. It is imperative that these investments are validated properly, made wisely and that the most appropriate technologies and software tools are selected or combined to facilitate knowledge management. Knowledge management has also become a cornerstone in emerging business strategies such as Service Lifecycle Management (SLM) with companies increasingly turning to software vendors to enhance their efficiency in industries including, but not limited to, the aviation industry.[18]

[edit] Knowledge Managers
This section does not cite any references or sources. Please help improve this section by adding citations to reliable sources. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (December 2009) "Knowledge manager" is a role and designation that has gained popularity over the past decade. The role has evolved drastically from that of one involving the creation and maintenance of knowledge repositories to one that involves influencing the culture of an organization toward improved knowledge sharing, reuse, learning, collaboration and innovation. Knowledge management functions are associated with different departments in different organizations. It may be combined with Quality, Sales, HR, Innovation, Operations etc. and is likely to be determined by the KM motivation of that particular organization. Knowledge managers have varied backgrounds ranging from Information Sciences to Business Management. An effective knowledge manager is likely to be someone who has a versatile skills portfolio and is comfortable with the concepts of organizational behavior/culture, processes, branding & marketing and collaborative technology.

[edit] Knowledge Management System
Knowledge Management System (KM System) refers to a (generally generated via or through to an IT based program/department or section) system for managing knowledge in

organizations for supporting creation, capture, storage and dissemination of information. It can comprise a part (neither necessary nor sufficient) of a Knowledge Management initiative. The idea of a KM system is to enable employees to have ready access to the organization's documented base of facts, sources of information, and solutions. For example a typical claim justifying the creation of a KM system might run something like this: an engineer could know the metallurgical composition of an alloy that reduces sound in gear systems. Sharing this information organization wide can lead to more effective engine design and it could also lead to ideas for new or improved equipment.

Knowledge Management framework Ref: School Of management Studies, NIT Calicut A KM system could be any of the following: 1. Document based i.e. any technology that permits creation/management/sharing of formatted documents such as Lotus Notes, SharePoint, web, distributed databases etc. 2. Ontology/Taxonomy based: these are similar to document technologies in the sense that a system of terminologies (i.e. ontology) are used to summarize the document e.g. Author, Subj, Organization etc. as in DAML & other XML based ontologies 3. Based on AI technologies which use a customized representation scheme to represent the problem domain. 4. Provide network maps of the organization showing the flow of communication between entities and individuals 5. Increasingly social computing tools are being deployed to provide a more organic approach to creation of a KM system. KMS systems deal with information (although Knowledge Management as a discipline may extend beyond the information centric aspect of any system) so they are a class of information system and may build on, or utilize other information sources. Distinguishing features of a KMS can include: 1. Purpose: a KMS will have an explicit Knowledge Management objective of some type such as collaboration, sharing good practice or the like.

2. Context: One perspective on KMS would see knowledge is information that is meaningfully organized, accumulated and embedded in a context of creation and application. 3. Processes: KMS are developed to support and enhance knowledge-intensive processes, tasks or projects of e.g., creation, construction, identification, capturing, acquisition, selection, valuation, organization, linking, structuring, formalization, visualization, transfer, distribution, retention, maintenance, refinement, revision, evolution, accessing, retrieval and last but not least the application of knowledge, also called the knowledge life cycle. 4. Participants: Users can play the roles of active, involved participants in knowledge networks and communities fostered by KMS, although this is not necessarily the case. KMS designs are held to reflect that knowledge is developed collectively and that the “distribution” of knowledge leads to its continuous change, reconstruction and application in different contexts, by different participants with differing backgrounds and experiences. 5. Instruments: KMS support KM instruments, e.g., the capture, creation and sharing of the codifiable aspects of experience, the creation of corporate knowledge directories, taxonomies or ontologies, expertise locators, skill management systems, collaborative filtering and handling of interests used to connect people, the creation and fostering of communities or knowledge networks. A KMS offers integrated services to deploy KM instruments for networks of participants, i.e. active knowledge workers, in knowledge-intensive business processes along the entire knowledge life cycle. KMS can be used for a wide range of cooperative, collaborative, adhocracy and hierarchy communities, virtual organizations, societies and other virtual networks, to manage media contents; activities, interactions and work-flows purposes; projects; works, networks, departments, privileges, roles, participants and other active users in order to extract and generate new knowledge and to enhance, leverage and transfer in new outcomes of knowledge providing new services using new formats and interfaces and different communication channels. The term KMS can be associated to Open Source Software, and Open Standards, Open Protocols and Open Knowledge licenses, initiatives and policies.

[edit] Benefits & Issues of knowledge management
Some of the advantages claimed for KM systems are: 1. 2. 3. 4. Sharing of valuable organizational information throughout organizational hierarchy. Can avoid re-inventing the wheel, reducing redundant work. May reduce training time for new employees Retention of Intellectual Property after the employee leaves if such knowledge can be codified. 5. time management

Knowledge Sharing remains a challenging issue for knowledge management, and while there is no clear agreement barriers may include time issues for knowledge works, the level of trust, lack of effective support technologies and culture (Jennex 2008).

UK: How BA Engineered its Turnaround BRITISH AIRWAYS.
By Robert Heller. Tuesday, 01 September 1992

UK: How BA Engineered its Turnaround - BRITISH AIRWAYS. - BA's brand of TQM has not only cut costs but changed its culture - experience which could be useful in the proposed USAir link-up.
BA's brand of TQM has not only cut costs but changed its culture - experience which could be useful in the proposed USAir link-up. Total quality management is spreading, steadily rather than slowly in Britain. It will advance much faster once managements realise what total quality is really about (process rather than product) and how much it can achieve. The sceptics and innocents won't find a more convincing case than the engineering division of British Airways. "The numbers are magical," says Alastair Cumming, BA's director of engineering. In 1991, a very hard year, he achieved a reduction in engineering costs that went "beyond my wildest dreams." He doesn't know exactly how it happened, which worries him as an engineer. If you don't know the cause, and the effect stops, you don't know how to bring it back. However, as Cumming says, "so far, so good - but it's better than that." Better means that, after budgeting for a 2 to 3% reduction (and absorbing an 11.5 to 13.5% pay rise for 1990, plus higher costs for aeronautical materials), the results came in 9% below 1990. The total underspend was £38 million, and the process is continuing. The engineering budget is on a 5% reduction path, with 10% gains in labour productivity combining with 2% on raw materials. But total quality is much more than numbers. BA had a dual objective in taking on KepnerTregoe as consultants in Aircraft Maintenance (which dominates the division, supported by five other sections, each with its own brand of TQM, but all moving in the same direction). Management wanted not only to save costs but to turn the organisation - change its culture, in the jargon - from one which satisfied neither management nor men into a mutually successful business.

All managers know that all operations, however good, can be improved. In most cases, moreover, the gap between present performance and potential is enormous. Total quality refuses to accept that the gulf can't be bridged - and the results quoted show what the bridging can achieve. As Cumming says, drawing a precise cause-and-effect line is impossible. However, probably half the gains to date have come from higher productivity of labour.

The lessons learnt by the BA management in applying TQM to its engineering division should prove useful in the proposed link-up with USAir. By investing £390 million for a 44% stake in the sixth largest US carrier, BA has effectively become the first global airline (assuming the deal passes formidable American legislative hurdles). Much more, though, the deal will give the combined grouping the opportunity to achieve enormous cost savings and productivity improvements right across the board. UBS Phillips and Drew, BA's broker, reckoned "the combined annual cost savings and extra revenue of $100-200 million a year was not an unreasonable target." Thus far, freeing staff from BA work has had a "double-whammy" effect. Costs come down in demanned departments, while income rises as men maintain planes for other airlines. This ability to absorb spare skilled people (real Japanese stuff") has greatly helped BA's advance along the quality road. Since higher productivity raised no threat to jobs, positive emotions were much easier to arouse. As Cumming says, TQM depends heavily on emotion. When the emotion is positive, everything becomes possible. Allow negatives to get into the air, and everything becomes much tougher. The spectacular improvement in emotions and figures results in a major way from an absorbing partnership between Aircraft Maintenance and Kepner-Tregoe. The consultants were brought in by a management dissatisfied with the status quo, and dismayed by a history of strikes, constant friction, and fights over every pay deal. The end1991 deal went through at 4% with a smoothness impossible in the bad old atmosphere. That the workforce can now understand and accept management's position on pay and related matter marks a massive change in attitudes. That, quite as much as technical

improvements, caused the turnaround in results. In something of a political vortex, the usual demands for a financial quid quo surfaced. But the project team successfully managed to put across the idea that the men weren't working for management alone - but for the hangar itself. The conversion to total quality could never be taken for granted. The Gulf War crisis was a major challenge, not only to BA's overall finances, but to the job-preservation philosophy on which engineering's transformation partly hinged. With heavy job cuts demanded in BA as a whole, engineering couldn't be an exception. There were 800 people over 60, however, which helped the division to lose 500 staff without undue pain. More important, "a very strong collective sense of urgency developed out of the black days in January and February 1991". Management responded in several ways to the "tremendous surge of effort to find improvements' among the workforce. One of the most imaginative initiatives is the "Enterprise Hangar", set up with "invisible staff", drawn from other areas as jobs were overtaken by rising productivity, and now earning highly visible money (£3 million a year) by taking on work for other airlines. Another "very strong signal" arose from a potential major setback: BA's controversial sale of its engine over-haul business to General Electric. A thousand people were affected: those in South Wales had to swallow the unwelcome pill of leaving BA. But 350 engine overhaulers worked at Heathrow, and for them there was nothing. Their jobs would die but the 15-month transition gave management enough time to provide everybody with job offers and retraining. Some will be absorbed by growing sales inn the external market, while wastage will also help BA to fulfil its commitment on security of employment. That is essential in removing the most serious inhibitions that restrain productivity - which, without the benefit of TQM, had risen sharply at BA before and after Cumming arrived in 1983. Turning the merger of BOAC and BEA from theory into fact brought numbers down from 14,500 to 8,000. But industrial peace was only maintained at the price of significant concessions to the union side. One example that cumming discovered was a pile of unserviceable undercarriages, occupying a third of the floorspace, and blamed on capacity bottlenecks. These could easily have been removed by sub-contracting, but shop stewards had an effective veto on putting work outside. With full backing from Sir Colin Marshall - then chief executive and now chairman - Cumming acted firmly to restore management rights in the matter. Nothing illustrates the huge gulf between then and now than another sub-contracting story. On the face of it, overhauling its own seating seemed senseless for BA - exactly the kind of work that could be done more effectively by outside contractors. The work has stayed at heathrow - not because the unions, or anybody else, said it must; the men simply proved that their costs were well below those of all two dozen outside contenders.

Between 1983 and 1990, however, the result of management's determination to manage was turbulence - including a much-publicised strike. Management, together with the professional engineers, literally ran the airline for the best part of a fortnight. But Cumming was convinced, in the aftermath of the stoppage, that "very determined management" could only go so far. To sustain further progress, BA had to win the employees' positive involvement and support. Airline managers have built-in advantages over others in finding new ideas and practices. International by definition, they can globe-trot with the utmost ease. Cumming had been to Japan himself, and some 20 managers have visited Japan and US activities with a Japanese connection. They saw what might be possible in a changed at atmosphere. Cumming didn't impose his own ideas. The three top managers (for component overhaul, engine overhaul, and aircraft maintenance) were free to lead at their own pace. They all shared, however, a determination never again to get into head-on conflict with staff. Achieving a totally different relationship, though, would demand a totally different approach from middle managers - and that was the biggest challenge. These men, after all, had learnt how important it was for management to manage - and firmly. Now they were being asked to accept a sweeping change of culture. Cultures can be changed in two broad ways: by taking steps to create a new working atmosphere first, and then by providing the necessary tools to solve problems; or by first supplying the tools, encouraging their use, and then letting cultural change come through. You can't lay down the law as to which should come first, the chicken or the egg. Each area was left to "put flesh on the bones" in its own way - and both approaches were found to work. How well is shown by the sophistication in some cases: in pneumatic equipment, a supervisor, shop steward and tradesman getting together for a presentation to show Marshall how lead-time on a given component had halved; elsewhere, a manager taking supervisors and their juniors on a business awareness course - with such success that all BA engineering is now to receive the same instruction. The folly of treating people as robots - and difficult, recalcitrant, unreliable robots at that has emerged clearly from the turnaround at Aircraft Maintenance, with its 4,000 employees. Its boss, John Perkins, instinctively disliked the "culture first" approach. But AM was struggling with a mass of technical problems, and the Kepner-Tregoe work at Chrysler, described to him at a chance meeting at Harvard Business School, was much to Perkins' liking. The consultants were invited in, and began an analysis that ran through January and February 1990 as they sought answers to five key questions. Are there any quality issues? If so, how are they picked up and transferred? If they are picked up and transferred, how are they dealt with? If they are dealt with, what working mechanism is used? And is the environment supportive of change and the new behaviours required? The analysis found many internal quality issues, but they were not picked up and transferred, and so were never dealt with. With so many issues outstanding, there was no

point in monitoring the systems. In a sense, the process had to restart from scratch. That meant finding a project on which a fresh start could be made: capturing the issues, transferring them, and developing the skills for their resolution. Much more structure was needed to make this feasible. Feasibility was crucial. In maintaining aircraft, you can't "stop the line" - work must continue. Nor are soft, unspecific messages any good when dealing with engineers. Hard, clear proposals and practices are what is needed. William Hextall, the consultant who led the project, emphasises that "pragmatic, nuts and bolts TQM" was the necessary order of the day, using ostensibly "hard" processes to achieve "soft" objectives. The programme was ostensibly not cultural at all. It consisted of defining areas where Kepner-Tregoe's well-established tools could be used, supplying the tools, coming to solutions - and carrying the solutions through. By concentrating on substance, the managers involved felt more comfortable. "Skills for quality improvement", known as SQI, were provided in five stages: Basic Situation Appraisal (sorting concerns); Problem analysis (finding the cause); Decision Analysis (making a choice); Potential Problem Analysis (ensuring success of action or plan); and Managing Involvement (ensuring commitment through involving the right people). The consultants designed the project round what they heard and saw, using interviews, observations, and some number-crunching. The process began moving very fast, until the use of the Kepner-Tregoe tools became imperative, with active management support. Practicality was crucial. For example, at Heathrow's Terminal Four the growth in traffic demanded more people. The extra numbers couldn't all be accommodated in one place. How best to divide the workforce between two sites? Management could have planned the split and issued orders, risking almost inevitable turmoil. Instead, the problem was turned over to a TQM group led by a foreman, with volunteer members. The excellent outcome, in Cumming's words, "was a dream beginning to come true". The dream isn't non-management; rather a different way of managing. The philosophy may sound soft and idealistic: that essentially the concern is with "satisfying human beings"; that "people are most happy about things they invent for themselves"; that you're delegating "power to take decisions". But "you don't delegate quality". Nor, though you share responsibility, can you duck it. TQM provides the "best way of getting things done", but it's still the manager's job to get it done. BA's view is that this more effective way of managing probably takes no more time though it certainly demands more patience. That's the only downside of the switch from giving directives to "facilitation and getting to understand", to "encouraging and helping". Again, these processes, aren't abstract. A manager's allocation of budget, for instance, will vitally affect the outcome - and one reason for the business awareness courses is to enable staff to understand the thinking behind financial decisions. At one moment, these benefits might have been lost to Aircraft maintenance. A Very detailed plan had been presented to everybody in the 747 and short-haul hangars. When the

Gulf crisis hit, budgets were cut, and the consultants sent home. However, they persuaded BA to spend enough to test the approach's value in one small area, the 747 hangar, employing 150 people. This hangar had a long record of lack of success, frustration and inadequate management. If Kepner-Tregoe's methods could make headway there, ran the thought, they could do so anywhere - and, says cumming, "people could hardly believe" the take-off that followed. The synergy between the Kepner-Tregoe methods and the actual work of maintaining aircraft must have helped. It was especially marked in the casualty hangar, where ailing planes are handled by a highly skilled group. These engineers soon saw that KepnerTregoe's Problem analysis" had direct relevance - for its purpose is to "find cause of a deviation": the basic steps, describing the problem, identifying possible causes and evaluating them, and confirming the true cause are a perfect fit. The whole TQM effort is still under development, and always will be - that being the nature of total quality, which hinges entirely on progress towards unattainable perfection. The biggest identifiable gap (identified by the man themselves in a survey) is in the manmanager relationship. Staff feel they still get much of their information from rumour, that their contact with managers is far too little, that their efforts aren't sufficiently recognised, that they are not listened to. Cumming's response has been to tell managers to take their coats off (literally) and spend every Friday afternoon in the work place. A strict and intelligent code of conduct governs these sorties: including, don't argue or get involved in argument; listen as much as you speak; don't mix business with pleasure (ie, don't just socialise and ask about the wife and kids); and always follow-up on what's discussed. As this code shows, the technicalities of TQM are inseparable from the basics of human relationships. Union relations have remained important during the cultural change. Officials, especially in the engineering unions, have fully grasped that their members' security is best served by working in a successful organisation. Arguments still take place between managers and national officials, but as between equals: the atmosphere is "totally different". That remark applies to the whole division as BA moves on to the next stage. John Perkins has five staff under a head of TQM: by end-1993, however, TQM as a separate activity is scheduled to cease - their brief is to do themselves out of a job. That is also the fate of a good consultancy project, to which, as Kepner-Tregoe's Hextall emphasises, the eventual transfer of ownership to the client must be vital. The need now is to institutionalise what has been achieved, so that it's no longer an exciting novelty but just "the way in which we work". Cumming sees sharing the business implications of the tasks as a crucial step forward into a future which could bring sweeping changes, including mergers - and even the evolution of the world airline engineering business into a separate industry.

The changes have made BA much fitter for any possible new worlds. The process has been one of replacing negatives with positives, of doing the natural thing well, rather than the unnatural badly. Cumming cites Gatwick airport as an example. The men servicing 757s freely decided that they could introduce a fourth line to handle a growing workload, using existing staff. A fifth line is now planned under the same conditions - meaning a total improvement in productivity of 40-45%. Listing such successes runs the danger of the Pangloss syndrome, in which all's for the best in the best of all possible worlds. That's never true in industry. The work at BA sprang from coping better with what goes wrong - by collective effort, resolving issues before they become problems. That British industry has strayed so far from this natural effectiveness is no credit to anybody in management, workforces, or the latter's representatives. BA engineering has shown that using natural processes to address technical issues properly has results that go far beyond the technical victories that are bound to follow. 16 Nov 2009 Be the first to comment

SOA is expected to improve BA's IT set-up British Airways (BA) will use service-oriented architecture (SOA) to integrate over 600 passenger and airport systems in a major IT update. The project will last until the end of 2014 and aims to bring new products to market faster and reduce cost. Further reading

CIOs under pressure to multitask British Airways devises new programme to develop the IT high-flyers of the future Airlines rethink IT priorities as recession bites Economic turbulence prompts BA to throttle back IT spending Airlines see unprecedented decline in IT spending British Airways to launch on-board web access Focus resources on what really matters

“BA's goal is to transform the travel experience. The flexibility of the SOA [tools] allows BA to extend the features of its e-commerce site right through to its airports, by allowing greater self-service functionality and 'plug and play' capability," explained the airline’s chief technology officer Gordon Penfold. “The airport environment is complex and the systems are mission critical and moving this to a highly automated environment is a challenge, but SOA quickly proved itself to be the right approach to achieving our goal of a fully agile environment,” he said. At a time other carriers are drastically reducing IT investment, BA’s investment in the service-oriented tools are expected to provide a competitive advantage. “The new SOA infrastructure is far more flexible and we are looking to roll out new services more quickly. At the same time, real-time data synchronisation means information quality is improved and costs are saved thanks to reduction in data replication,” said Penfold. The tools are being supplied by Progress Software. Read more: http://www.computing.co.uk/ctg/news/1822482/british-airways-upgradessystems-service-oriented-technology#ixzz1obeYC3Z0 Computing - Insight for IT leaders Claim your free subscription today.

British Airways
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia Jump to: navigation, search For the 1930s airline of similar name, see British Airways Ltd.

British Airways
ICAO IATA BA
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Callsign
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BAW SHT

SPEEDBIRD SHUTTLE

Founded

31 March 1974 (after BOAC & BEA merger)
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Gatwick Airport London Heathrow Airport

Hubs
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Frequent-flyer program

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Executive Club Premier (invite only) Concorde Room Galleries First Galleries Club Galleries Arrivals First Lounge Terraces Lounge Executive Club Lounge BA CityFlyer OpenSkies British Airways World Cargo

Airport lounge

Alliance

Oneworld
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Subsidiaries
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Fleet size Destinations Company slogan Parent company Headquarters

234 excl.subsidiaries 169 not incl. subsidiaries and codeshares

To Fly. To Serve. International Airlines Group Waterside, Harmondsworth, England
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Keith Williams (CEO)[1] Martin Broughton (Chairman)

Key people

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Revenue Website

€11.482 billion (2011)[2] www.britishairways.com

British Airways (BA) is the flag carrier airline of the United Kingdom, based in Waterside, near its main hub at London Heathrow Airport. British Airways is the largest airline in the UK based on fleet size, international flights and international destinations and second largest measured by passengers carried, behind easyJet. BA's UK passengers originating at non-London airports must connect via London after British Airways

discontinued all direct overseas flights from UK airports outside London following the sale of BA Connect to British regional carrier Flybe in 2007. The British Airways Board was established in 1971 to control the two nationalised airline corporations, BOAC and BEA, and two smaller, regional airlines, Cambrian Airways, from Cardiff, and Northeast Airlines, from Newcastle upon Tyne. On 31 March 1974, all four companies were merged to form British Airways. After almost thirteen years as a state company, that was sold in February 1987 as part of a privatisation plan by the Conservative Government. The carrier soon expanded with the acquisition of British Caledonian in 1987 and Dan-Air, Gatwick-based carrier, in 1992. A long-time Boeing customer, British Airways ordered fifty-nine Airbus A320 family aircraft in August 1998. In 2007, it purchased twelve Airbus A380s and twenty-four Boeing 787 Dreamliner, marking the start of its long-haul fleet replacement. The centrepiece of the airline's long-haul fleet is the Boeing 747-400; with 52 examples in service, British Airways is the largest operator of this type in the world. British Airways is a founding member of the Oneworld airline alliance, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and the now defunct Canadian Airlines. The alliance has since grown to become the third largest, after SkyTeam and Star Alliance. British Airways' parent company, International Airlines Group, is listed on the London Stock Exchange and in the FTSE 100 Index. On 12 November 2009, British Airways confirmed that it had reached a preliminary agreement to merge with Iberia. The merger was confirmed on 8 April 2010, and on 14 July 2010, the European Commission approved the merger under Competition law and also allowed American Airlines to co-operate with the merged entity on transatlantic routes to the United States of America. The British Airways merger with Iberia was finally completed on 21 January 2011, formally creating the International Airlines Group, IAG. The merger has created the world's third-largest airline in terms of annual revenue and the second largest airline group in Europe.

Contents
[hide]
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1 History 2 Corporate affairs o 2.1 Overview o 2.2 Financial performance o 2.3 Operations o 2.4 Subsidiaries and shareholdings o 2.5 British Airways World Cargo o 2.6 Industrial relations 3 Destinations o 3.1 Codeshare Agreements

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4 Fleet 4.1 Aircraft operated 4.2 Engine choice 4.3 British Airways Engineering 4.4 Recent aircraft orders 5 Marketing o 5.1 Branding o 5.2 Liveries and Tail fins o 5.3 Loyalty programmes 6 Cabins o 6.1 Seating policies 7 Incidents and accidents 8 See also 9 References 10 Bibliography
o o o o

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11 External links

[edit] History
Main article: History of British Airways

A Boeing 747-100 in BOAC-British Airways transition livery. British Airways (BA) was created in 1974, when the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC) and British European Airways Corporation (BEA) were combined under the newly formed British Airways Board.[3] Following two years of fierce competition with British Caledonian, the second-largest airline in Britain at the time, the Government changed its aviation policy in 1976 so the two carriers no longer would compete on longhaul routes.[4] British Airways and Air France operated the supersonic airliner Aerospatiale-BAC Concorde; the world's first supersonic passenger service first flew in January 1976 from London Heathrow to Bahrain.[5] Services to the US were inaugurated to Washington Dulles airport on 24 May 1976; flights to New York JFK airport started on 22 September 1977. A service to Singapore was also operated in coöperation with Singapore Airlines, as a

continuation of the flight to Bahrain.[3] Following the Air France Concorde crash in Paris and a slump in air travel following the 11 September attacks in New York in 2001, it was decided to cease Concorde operations in 2003, after 27 years of service. The final commercial Concorde flight was BA002 from New York JFK to London Heathrow on 24 October 2003.[6]

A British Airways Hawker Siddeley Trident in BEA-British Airways crossover livery. In 1981, the airline was instructed to prepare for privatisation by the Conservative government. Sir John King, later Lord King, was appointed Chairman, charged with bringing the airline back into profitability. King was credited with transforming the lossmaking giant into one of the most profitable air carriers in the world, while many other large airlines struggled.[7] The flag carrier was privatised and was floated on the London Stock Exchange in February 1987.[8] In July 1987, British Airways effected the controversial takeover of Britain's "second" airline, British Caledonian.[9] The formation of Richard Branson's Virgin Atlantic Airways in 1984 created a strong competitor for BA. In 1993, the intense rivalry between British Airways and Virgin Atlantic culminated in the former being sued for £610,000 for a "dirty tricks" campaign against Virgin and around £3 million in Virgin's legal costs. British Airways' campaign against Virgin included poaching Virgin Atlantic customers and tampering with private files belonging to Virgin. Following a court case, British Airways was forced to pay Virgin damages and legal costs causing BA management to apologise "unreservedly" for the alleged "dirty tricks" campaign.[10] Six months after the "dirty tricks" campaign, Lord King stepped down as chairman in 1993 and was replaced by former deputy, Colin Marshall, while Robert Ayling took over as CEO.[11]

British Airways' first Concorde at Heathrow Airport on 15 January 1976. In 1992, British Airways expanded through the acquisition of the financially troubled DanAir, giving BA a much larger presence at Gatwick airport. In March 1993, British Asia

Airways, a subsidiary based in Taiwan, was formed to operate between London and Taipei. Additionally in 1993, BA purchased a 25% stake in Australian airline Qantas in March, and acquired Brymon Airways in May to form BA Connect.[11] In September 1998, British Airways, along with American Airlines, Cathay Pacific, Qantas, and Canadian Airlines, formed the Oneworld airline alliance. Oneworld began operations on 1 February 1999, it is one of the largest airline alliances in the world, behind only SkyTeam and Star Alliance.[9] Benefits under CEO Robert Ayling's leadership included cost savings of £750m and the establishment of Go Fly in 1998.[12] However, one year on, in 1999, British Airways reported an 84 percent drop in profits, its worst for seven years.[13] In March 2000, Robert Ayling was removed from his position and British Airways announced Rod Eddington as his successor; Eddington would make further workforce cuts due to reduced demand following the 11 September attacks in 2001.[6] In September 2004, BA announced the sale of its Qantas stake.[14] In September 2005, Willie Walsh, former Aer Lingus pilot and Managing Director, became the Chief Executive Officer of the company.[15] In January 2008, BA unveiled its new subsidiary OpenSkies which takes advantage of the liberalisation of transatlantic traffic rights between Europe and the United States. As of 2008, OpenSkies flies non-stop from Paris to New York and Washington D.C.[16]

British Airways and Iberia merged in January 2011, forming the International Airlines Group, one of the world's largest airlines On 30 July 2008, British Airways and Iberia, a Spanish fellow Oneworld partner, announced a merger plan; the two airlines would retain their original brands, similar to KLM and Air France in their merger agreement.[17] An agreement to merge was confirmed in April 2010.[18] In July 2010, the European Commission and US Department of Transport permitted the merger and to co-ordinate transatlantic routes with American Airlines.[19][20] On 6 October 2010, the alliance between British Airways, American Airlines and Iberia formally began operations; the alliance generates an estimated £230 million annual costsaving for BA, in addition to £330 million by the Iberia merge.[21][22] British Airways ceased trading on the London Stock Exchange on 21 January 2011, after 23 years as a constituent of the FTSE 100 index.[23] On 21 January 2011, British Airways and Iberia merged, resulting in the world's third-largest airline in terms of annual revenue and the second largest airline group in Europe.[18][24] Prior to merging, British Airways

owned a 13.5% stake in Iberia, thus it received ownership of 55% of the combined “International Airlines Group”, Iberia's other shareholders received the remaining 45%.[25] In September 2010, Willie Walsh, the CEO of IAG, announced that IAG is looking at other airlines; and that a shortlist of twelve possible acquisitions existed.[26] In early November 2011, IAG announced an agreement in principle to purchase British Midland International from Lufthansa.[27]

[edit] Corporate affairs
[edit] Overview

Waterside, the head office of British Airways.

A British Airways Boeing 747-400 in a special Oneworld livery at London Heathrow Airport, England. British Airways trades on the London Stock Exchange and is a constituent of the FTSE 100 Index under the title of "International Airlines Group" following British Airways' merger with Iberia on 21 January 2011, with trading beginning on 24 January 2011.[28] British Airways has its head office, Waterside, in Harmondsworth, London Borough of Hillingdon, England.[29] Waterside was completed in June 1998 to replace British Airways' previous head office, Speedbird House, on the grounds of London Heathrow Airport.[30][31] The IAG has its operational headquarters in London and corporate headquarters in Madrid; it is incorporated under Spanish law as a "Sociedad Anónima", and pays taxes in Spain.[32]

[edit] Financial performance

British Airways Financial Performance Year Ended 31 March 2010 31 March 2009[34] 31 March 2008 31 March 2007 31 March 2006* 31 March 2006 31 March 2005 31 March 2004 31 March 2003 31 March 2002 31 March 2001 31 March 2000 31 March 1999 31 March 1998 31 March 1997 31 March 1996 Passengers Flown[33] 31,825,000 33,117,000 34,613,000 33,068,000 32,432,000 35,634,000 35,717,000 36,103,000 38,019,000 40,004,000 36,221,000 36,346,000 37,090,000 34,377,000 33,440,000 32,272,000 Turnover Profit/Loss Before Net Profit/Loss Basic (£m) Tax (£m) (£m) EPS (p) 7,994 8,992 8,753 8,492 8,213 8,515 7,772 7,560 7,688 8,340 9,278 8,940 8,915 8,642 8,359 7,760 (531) (401) 883 611 616 620 513 230 135 (200) 150 5 225 580 640 585 (425) (358) 696 438 464 467 392 130 72 (142) 114 (21) 206 460 553 473 (38.5) (32.6) 59.0 25.5 40.4 40.4 35.2 12.1 6.7 (13.2) 10.5 (2.0) 19.5 44.7 55.7 49.4

* Restated for the disposal of the regional business of BA Connect.

[edit] Operations
Main articles: British Airways destinations and British Airways franchise destinations

British Airways and British Airways franchise destinations. United Kingdom British Airways destinations Destinations served only by British Airways franchise British Airways is the largest airline based in the United Kingdom in terms of fleet size, international flights, and international destinations and was, until 2008, the largest airline by passenger numbers as well. The airline carried 34.6 million passengers in 2008 but easyJet, a rival, low-cost carrier carried 44.5 million passengers that year, passing British Airways for the first time.[35][36] British Airways holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.[37] British Airways' main base is at London Heathrow Airport in west London, England, but it also has a major presence at Gatwick Airport, BA had previously operated a significant hub at Manchester Airport. Manchester operations, and international services outside of London, ceased when the subsidiary, BA Connect, was sold due to a lack of profitability. Passengers wishing to travel internationally with BA either to or from regional UK destinations must now transfer in London.[38] Heathrow airport is dominated by British Airways, due to their ownership of 40% of the slots available at the airport.[39] The majority of BA services operate from Terminal 5, with the exception of some flights still at Terminal 3.[40] T3 British Airways operations include long-haul codeshare flights and European flights.[40][41] British Airways serves nearly 150 destinations, including six domestic. It is one of only ten carriers to fly to all six permanently inhabited continents.[42]

[edit] Subsidiaries and shareholdings
BA CityFlyer is a subsidiary based at London City Airport, it primarily flies Embraer aircraft. BA CityFlyer operates around 250 flights per week from London City Airport.[43] The former BEA Helicopters was renamed British Airways Helicopters in 1974 and operated passenger and offshore oil support services until it was sold in 1986.[44] Other

former subsidiaries include the German airline Deutsche BA from 1997 until 2003 and the French airline Air Liberté from 1997 to 2001.[45][46] British Airways previously was the full owner of Airways Aero Associations Limited, operator of the British Airways flying club and an aerodrome under the BA brand at Wycombe Air Park, High Wycombe.[47] South Africa's Comair and Denmark's Sun Air of Scandinavia have been franchisees of British Airways since 1996.[48][49] British Airways obtained a 15% stake in UK regional airline Flybe from the sale of BA Connect in March 2007;[50] BA also owns a 10% stake in InterCapital and Regional Rail (ICRR), the company managing operations of Eurostar (UK) Ltd.[51] With the creation of an Open Skies agreement between Europe and the United States in March 2008, British Airways started a new subsidiary airline called OpenSkies (previously known as "Project Lauren").[52] The airline started operations in June 2008, and now flies direct from Paris to New York JFK and Washington Dulles.[53] In addition to codesharing with the Oneworld alliance members, British Airways has codeshare agreements with Aer Lingus, Air Berlin, Flybe, Kingfisher Airlines, Loganair, Meridiana fly and WestJet.[54]

[edit] British Airways World Cargo

A Boeing 747-8F of British Airways World Cargo BA is, through its subsidiary British Airways World Cargo, the world's twelfth-largest cargo airline based on total freight tonne-kilometres flown.[55] BA World Cargo has global freight opportunities through the British Airways flight routes. In addition to the main fleet, BA World Cargo wet lease three Boeing 747-400F aircraft from Global Supply Systems on a multi-year basis, as well as utilising space on dedicated freighters operated by other carriers.[56] Dedicated freighter services gives British Airways World Cargo the opportunity to service destinations that are not available on their passenger route network. British Airways opened a World Cargo centre at Heathrow in the late 1990s;[57] it is an automated freight handling centre capable of handling unusual and premium cargo, and fresh produce, of which it handles over 80,000 tons per year.[58] BA World Cargo also handles freight at London's Gatwick and Stansted airports, and, through its partner British Airways Regional Cargo, at all of the main regional airports throughout the UK.[59] In 2010,

BAWC announced that it would wetlease three Boeing 747-8F aircraft from Global Supply Systems to replace the 747-400s.[60] In August 2007, British Airways agreed to plead guilty and pay a $300 million fine as a result of felony anti-trust charges in the United States for conspiring to fix air cargo prices. [61] In 2009, BA announced that it had chose to continue its longhaul freight operations at London Stansted Airport rather than relocate to Kent International Airport.[62]

[edit] Industrial relations
Staff working for British Airways are represented by a number of trade unions, pilots are represented by British Air Line Pilots' Association, cabin crew by British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association (a branch of Unite the Union), while other branches of Unite the Union represent other employees. During Bob Ayling's management, faced strike action by cabin crew over a £1 billion cost-cutting drive to return BA to profitability in 1997; this was the last time BA cabin crew would strike until 2009, although staff morale has reportedly been unstable since that incident.[63] In an effort to increase interaction between management, employees, and the unions, various conferences and workshops have taken place, often with thousands in attendance.[64] In 2005, wildcat action was taken by union members over a decision by Gate Gourmet to not renew the contracts of 670 workers and replaced them with agency staff; it is estimated that the strike cost British Airways £30 million and caused disruption to 100,000 passengers.[65] In October 2006, BA became involved in a civil rights dispute when a Christian employee was forbidden to wear a necklace baring the cross, a religious symbol. [66] BA's practice of forbidding such symbols has been publically questioned by British politicians such as former Home Secretary John Reid and former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw.[67][68] Relations have been turbulent between BA and Unite. In 2007, cabin crew threatened strike action over salary changes to be imposed by BA management. The strike was called off at the last minute, British Airways losing £80 million.[63] In December 2009, a ballot for strike action over Christmas received a high level of support,[69] action was blocked by a court injunction that deemed the ballot illegal. Negotiations failed to stop strike action in March, BA withdrew perks for strike participants.[70] Allegations were made by the Guardian newspaper that BA had consulted outside firms methods to undermine the unions, the story was later withdrawn.[71] A strike was announced for May 2010, British Airways again sought an injunction. Members of the Socialist Workers Party disrupted negotiations between BA management and Unite to prevent industrial action.[72] Further disruption struck when Derek Simpson, a Unite co-leader, was discovered to have leaked details of confidential negotiations online via Twitter.[73]

[edit] Destinations
Main article: British Airways destinations

[edit] Codeshare Agreements
Besides fellow Oneworld members, British Airways has codeshare agreements with the following airlines (as of February 2012):[74]
• •

Aer Lingus Air Berlin[1](future Oneworld
member)

• •

Kingfisher Airlines[3](future Oneworld
member)

Loganair

• Flybe[2] • Meridiana Fly British Airways also has interline agreements with the following airlines: • •

Alaska Airlines WestJet[4]

[edit] Fleet

British Airways aircraft at London Heathrow Terminal 5 With the exception of the Boeing 707 and early Boeing 747 variants from BOAC, the airline as formed in 1972-4 inherited a mainly UK-built fleet of aircraft. The airline introduced the Boeing 737 and Boeing 757 into the fleet in the 1980s, followed by the Boeing 747-400 (British Airways is the largest operator with 55), Boeing 767 and Boeing 777 in the 1990s.[9][11] Boeing-built aircraft for British Airways are allocated the customer code 36, which appears in their aircraft designation as a suffix, such as 737-436, 747-436 and 777-236.[75] Although British Airways utilises a large Boeing fleet, it has always operated aircraft from other manufacturers.[76] British built aircraft were transferred from BEA (e.g. Trident) and BOAC (e.g. VC10), and in the 1980s the airline operated the Lockheed L-1011.[77] It also operated the DC-10 and Airbus A320-100 through the acquisition of British Caledonian Airways in the 1980s. In August 1998, British Airways placed its first direct Airbus order, for 59 A320/A319s, to replace its own ageing fleet of Boeing 737s and A320-100s.[78] British Airways replaced the L-1011 and DC-10 tri-jet fleet with more fuel-efficient, twinjet, Boeing 767 and 777 aircraft in the 1990s. In September 2007, BA placed its first

order for long-haul Airbus jets, consisting of 12 firm orders for Airbus A380s and seven options.[79] The Boeing 757 was withdrawn from British Airways service in late 2010.[80] The combined International Airlines Group entity, that BA is now a part of, operates over 400 aircraft, carries over 62 million passengers annually, and serves more than 200 destinations.[18] As of February, 2012 the British Airways fleet includes the following aircraft:[81]

Airbus A319 lands at London Heathrow Airport

Airbus A321-200 takes off from Manchester Airport

Boeing 777-200ER takes off from London Heathrow Airport

Boeing 747-400 takes off from London Heathrow Airport British Airways Fleet[82] Passengers[83] In Aircraft Orders Service F J W M Total Airbus A318-100 2 — — 32 — — 32 — 36 — 77 113 Airbus A319-100 33 — — 12 — 113 125 — — — 132 132 — 52 — 83 135 Airbus A320-200 41 — 12 — 143 155 — — — 162 162 — 67 — 86 153 Airbus A321-200 11 — — 12 — 168 180 — — — 188 188 Airbus A380-800 — 12 TBA — 38 — 101 139 Boeing 737–400 19 — — 10 — 137 147 — — — 153 153 14 70 30 177 291 Boeing 747-400 55 — 14 70 30 185 299 14 52 36 235 337 — 24 24 141 189 — 134 — 95 229 Boeing 767-300ER 21 — — 18 — 230 248 — — — 252 252 Boeing 777–200 3 — 17 48 24 127 216 — 40 24 216 280 — 48 24 203 275 Boeing 777-200ER 43 — 14 48 40 124 226 12 48 32 127 221 Boeing 777-300ER 6 0 14 56 44 183 297 Boeing 787–8 — 8 — 42 51 90 183

Boeing 787–9 Total A Super VC10 in 1975

— 234

16 36

TBA

Concorde G-BOAD, which set the passenger airliner world speed record on 7 February 1996 when it flew from New York to London Heathrow in 2 hours, 52 minutes and 59 seconds, on display at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum in New York City in December 2005. A Boeing 757–200 at London Heathrow Airport in February 1983.

[edit] Aircraft operated
British Airways Fleet, 1970s–1980s[84] British Airways Fleet, 1990s–2000s[84] Aircraft Introduced Retired Aircraft Introduced Retired Aérospatiale-BAC Airbus A318 2009 1976 2003 Concorde Airbus A319 1999 BAC One-Eleven 1974 1993 Airbus A320-100 1988 2007 Boeing 707–400 1974 1984 Airbus A320-200 1989 Boeing 737–200 1974 2001 Airbus A321 2004 Boeing 747–100 1974 1999 Boeing 737–300 1988 2009 Boeing 747–200 1977 2001 Boeing 737–400 1990 Hawker Siddeley Trident 1974 1989 Boeing 737–500 1996 2009 Hawker Siddeley HS 748 1975 1985 Boeing 747-400 1989 Lockheed L-1011 TriStar 1974 1999 Boeing 757–200 1983 2010 Vickers VC10 1974 1983 Boeing 767–200 1993 1996 Vickers Vanguard 1974 1975 Boeing 7671991 Vickers Viscount 1974 1982 300ER BAe 146–200 1989 1994 Boeing 7771995 200ER BAe ATP 1989 1994 Boeing 777McDonnell Douglas DC-10 1988 1999 2010 300ER Dash 8–100 1993 1998 Saab 340 1990 1991

[edit] Engine choice
The majority (77%) of the British Airways fleet is either powered by Rolls-Royce or IAE alliance engines, of which Rolls-Royce is a major contributor. The remaining 23% of the fleet is equally divided between General Electric and the CFM International consortium.[81]

[edit] British Airways Engineering
The company has its own engineering branch to maintain its aircraft fleet, this includes line maintenance at over 70 airports around the world.[85] As well as hangar facilities at Heathrow and Gatwick airport it has two major maintenance centres at Glasgow and Cardiff Airports.

[edit] Recent aircraft orders

The Airbus A380 is due to enter service with British Airways in 2013.

British Airways has placed firm orders for 24 Boeing 787 Dreamliners, to replace the fleet's oldest Boeing 767s from 2013. On 27 March 2007, British Airways placed an order for four 777-200ER aircraft with an option for four more; the order cost more than US$800 million at list price; BA has stated these are for fleet expansion.[86] BA's first 777s were fitted with General Electric GE90 engines, but BA switched to Rolls-Royce Trent 800s for the nineteen most recent aircraft. [87] This choice has been continued on the four most recent orders.[88] On 27 September 2007, BA announced their biggest order since 1998 by ordering thirty-six new long-haul aircraft. The company ordered twelve A380s with options on a further seven, and twenty-four Boeing 787s with eighteen options for delivery between 2013 and 2016.[89] Rolls-Royce Trent engines were again selected for both orders with Trent 900s powering the A380s and Trent 1000s powering the 787s. The Boeing 787s will replace fourteen of British Airways' Boeing 767 fleet while the Airbus A380s will replace twenty of BA's oldest Boeing 747-400s and will most likely be used to increase capacity on key

routes from London Heathrow, such as New York, Washington DC, Miami, Hong Kong, Sydney, Tokyo, Dubai, Singapore and San Francisco.[90] In September 2009, British Airways began a premium service between London City Airport and New York JFK using two Airbus A318s fitted with 32 lie-flat beds in an all business class cabin.[91][92] The service operates under the flight numbers previously reserved for Concorde, BA001 and BA003.[93][94] On 1 August 2008, BA announced orders for six Boeing 777-300ERs and options for four more as an interim measure to cover for delays over the deliveries of their 787-8/9s. Of the six that have been ordered, four will be leased & two will be fully acquired by British Airways.[95] On 12 January 2009, Willie Walsh stated that the 777 purchase did not indicate a ruling out of the Airbus A350 for BA's fleet renewal programme and "the airline expects to reach a decision towards the end of the year."[96]

[edit] Marketing
[edit] Branding
Further information: British Airways face advertisement The musical theme predominantly used on British Airways advertising is "The Flower Duet" by Léo Delibes.[97] This, and the slogan "The World's Favourite Airline" were introduced in 1989 with the launch of the iconic "Face" advertisement.[98] The slogan was dropped in 2001, after having been overtaken by Lufthansa in terms of passenger numbers. [99] "Flower Duet" is still used by the airline, and has been through several different arrangements since 1989. The recent version of this melody was shown in 2007, with a new slogan, "Upgrade to British Airways".[100] Other advertising slogans have included "The World's Favourite Airline", "The World's Best Airline", "We'll Take More Care Of You", and "Fly the Flag".[101]

British Airways' promotional banner above the check in desks at Terminal 5. BA had an account for twenty-three years with Saatchi & Saatchi, who created many of their most famous advertisements, including the influential "Face" campaign; Saatchi & Saatchi imitated this advert for rival Silverjet in 2007 after BA discontinued their business activities.[102] As of February 2007, BA's advertising agency is Bartle Bogle Hegarty.[103]

Online, British Airways purchased the internet domain ba.com in 2002 from previous owner Bell Atlantic, 'BA' being the company's acronym and its IATA Airline code.[104] In September 2011, BA launched its biggest advertising campaign in a decade, including a 90-second cinematic advert celebrating the airline's ninety year heritage, and a new slogan "To Fly. To Serve".[105] British Airways is the official airline of the Wimbledon Championship tennis tournament, and the official airline and tier one partner of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. [106][107] British Airways was also the official airline of England's bid to host the 2018 Football World Cup.[108]

[edit] Liveries and Tail fins
Further information: British Airways ethnic liveries

British Airways Boeing 747–400 with a Utopia fin. Since its formation in 1974, though to a limited extent until all aircraft were repainted, British Airways' aeroplanes carried a Union Flag scheme painted on their tail fins. The original tail scheme was changed in 1984 as part of a new livery designed by Landor Associates.[109] On 10 June 1997 there was a highly controversial change from the use of the British colours to ethnic logos and abstract world images,[110] such as Delftware or Chinese calligraphy for example. All the designs related to countries on the company's network of routes. This caused problems with air traffic control: whereas previously controllers had been able to tell pilots to follow a BA plane, they were now harder to visually identify because each plane was painted in a range of different colours and colour schemes.[111] Several people spoke out against the change from the traditional Union Flag Scheme, including the former Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher who covered the tail of a model BA plane with a white handkerchief captured by BBC News cameras.[112] BA's traditional rival, Virgin Atlantic, quickly adopted the British flag along with the slogan "Britain's national flagcarrier".[113] On 6 June 1999, BA CEO Bob Ayling announced that all BA planes would be repainted with the Union Flag, based on a design first used on Concorde.
[114]

[edit] Loyalty programmes
British Airways operates two loyalty schemes. The Executive Club, featuring multiple tiers, has benefits such as access to special lounges and dedicated 'fast' queues.[115] BA also operates an invitation-only Premier programme, given only by the BA board and has 1,200 members.[116] British Airways operates airside lounges for passengers travelling in premium cabins and these are available to certain tiers of Executive Club members.[117] First class passengers, as well as Gold Executive Club members, are entitled to use First Class Lounges. Business class passengers (called Club World or Club Europe in BA terms) as well as Silver Executive Club members may use Business lounges[118] Often, at airports in which BA does not operate a departure lounge, a third party lounge is usually provided for premium/status passengers.[119] In August 2011, British Airways announced changes to the Executive Club to maximise integration with the merge with Iberia.[120]

[edit] Cabins

Short haul Euro Traveller cabin

A Next-Generation Club World seat Short haul UK Domestic is British Airways' economy class on domestic UK flights. Flights into Heathrow are operated by Airbus A320 series aircraft, and flights into Gatwick are operated by Boeing 737 aircraft, which are in a one-class configuration.[121][122] Business UK operates the same cabin as UK Domestic, but has pre-flight lounge access. Euro Traveller is British Airways' economy class offering on flights from the UK to the

rest of Europe.[121] In-Flight Entertainment is offered on 767-300ER and some A320 aircraft.[123] Club Europe is the short-haul business class on all short-haul flights, except within the UK. This allows for access to business lounges at most airports.[124][125] Since September 2009, Club Europe has seats in a 2–3 configuration on narrow-body aircraft.[9][126] Long haul First (rebranded from 'FIRST' in 2009) is the long-haul first class service on British Airways, offered only on Boeing 747 and Boeing 777 aircraft. There are fourteen private "demi-cabins" per aircraft, each with a 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) bed, a 15-inch (38 cm) wide entertainment screen, and in-seat power. In 2009, British Airways announced a major upgrade and refresh of upgrades.[127][128] Club World is the long-haul business class on Boeing 767, 777, 747, and Airbus A318 aircraft;[129][130] the cabin features fully flat beds. On 13 November 2006, British Airways launched Next Generation New Club World, featuring larger seats.[9] World Traveller is the long-haul economy class offered on international flights to destinations outside Europe; offering seat-back entertainment and several complimentary drinks and meals.[121][131][132] AVOD is offered on all 747, long-haul 767s and is currently being fitted the majority of 777s.[133] World Traveller Plus is the premium economy offering provided on all long-haul aircraft,[121] which offers fewer seats per row, more seat comforts, and power sockets.[134]

[edit] Seating policies
Further information: Airline sex discrimination policy controversy In March 2001, it was revealed that British Airways had a policy of not seating adult male passengers next to children who are sitting by themselves, even if a child's parents are elsewhere on the plane.[135] This led to accusations of sex discrimination, with the company eventually admitting the offence in 2010 during a case brought by Mirko Fischer.[136] The policy was dropped in August 2010 with the airline instead seating unaccompanied minors in a non discriminatory manner near the cabin crew.[137] In 2001, British Airways was the first carrier to introduce a ten-abreast economy class configuration on the Boeing 777, an aircraft designed for nine-abreast seating.[138] This utilised specially built narrow seats and aisles, and was applied to two GE-engined 777200ERs used predominantly on Caribbean routes, and occasionally to Florida.[139]

[edit] Incidents and accidents
•

In November 1974, British Airways Flight 870 from Dubai to Heathrow, operated by a Vickers VC10, was hijacked in Dubai, landing at Tripoli for refuelling before

flying on to Tunis. One hostage was murdered before the hijackers eventually surrendered after 84 hours.[140] Captain Jim Futcher was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal, the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Founders Medal, the British Air Line Pilots Association Gold Medal and a Certificate of Commendation from British Airways for his actions during the hijacking, having returned to the aircraft to fly it knowing the hijackers were on board.[141]
•

On 10 September 1976, a Trident 3B on British Airways Flight 476, flying from London Heathrow to Istanbul collided in mid-air with an Inex Adria DC9-31 near Zagreb, Croatia, resulting in the 1976 Zagreb mid-air collision.[142] All fifty-four passengers and nine crew members on the BA aircraft died. This is the only fatal accident to a British Airways aircraft since the company's formation in 1974. On 24 June 1982, Flight 9, a Boeing 747–200, G-BDXH, City of Edinburgh flew through a cloud of volcanic ash and dust from the eruption of Mount Galunggung, causing extensive damage to the aircraft, including the failure of all four engines. [143] The crew managed to glide the plane out of the dust cloud and restart all four of its engines, although one later had to be shut down again. The aircraft made an emergency landing at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport just outside Jakarta, Indonesia. No-one was injured.[144] On 10 June 1990, Flight 5390, a BAC One-Eleven flight between Birmingham and Málaga, suffered a windscreen blowout due to the fitting of incorrect bolts the previous day. The Captain suffered major injuries after being partially blown out of the aircraft, however the co-pilot landed the plane safely at Southampton Airport. The captain, Tim Lancaster, despite the physical trauma he suffered, fully recovered and five months later he returned to duty.[145] On 2 August 1990, Flight 149 landed at Kuwait International Airport four hours after the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait, leading to the capture of the passengers and crew, and the destruction of the aircraft.[146][147] On 29 December 2000, British Airways Flight 2069 from Gatwick Airport to Nairobi experienced a hijack attempt whilst flying over Sudan.[148] A Kenyan student with a mental illness burst into the cockpit of the Boeing 747. As three crew fought to restrain the man, the auto-pilot became disengaged and the jet dropped 10,000 feet (3,000 m) with 398 passengers on board. However, with the help from the passengers, the pilots recovered the aircraft, successfully restrained the Kenyan with handcuffs and the plane landed safely.[149] Passengers aboard the plane included English singer Bryan Ferry, urban planner Britta Engstrom, and socialite Jemima Khan.[150] On 19 February 2005, the No. 2 engine of a Boeing 747–400 G-BNLG surged (whereby the airflow through the engine reverses) and suffered internal damage just after take off from Los Angeles on a flight to London Heathrow with sixteen crew and 351 passengers on board.[151] The crew shut the engine down and continued the

•

•

•

•

•

climb and continued the flight, in line with BA's standard operating procedures for 4 engined aircraft. Because it was unable to attain normal cruising speeds and altitudes, the aircraft diverted to Manchester Airport, England. The United States Federal Aviation Administration had been critical of the Captain's decision and accused BA of operating the aircraft in an non airworthy condition.[152] In June 2006 the UK Air Accidents Investigation Branch recommended that the UK and US authorities review the policy on flight continuation and give clear guidance. This has not happened but the FAA have accepted the United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority’s determination that the aircraft was airworthy.[153]

The damaged British Airways Flight 38
•

On 17 January 2008, British Airways Flight 38, a Boeing 777-200ER G-YMMM, flying from Beijing to London, crash-landed approximately 1,000 feet (300 m) short of London Heathrow Airport's runway 27L, and slid onto the runway's threshold. This resulted in damage to the landing gear, the wing roots, and the engines, resulting in the first hull loss of a Boeing 777. There were 136 passengers and 16 crew on board. One serious and twelve minor injuries were sustained. The initial report from the Air Accidents Investigation Branch stated that the engines repeatedly failed to respond to commands for more thrust from both the autothrottle system and from manual intervention, beginning when the aircraft was at an altitude of 600 feet (180 m) and 2 miles (3.2 km) from touchdown.[154] In September 2008, it was revealed that ice forming in the fuel might have caused the crash. In early 2009, Boeing sent an update to aircraft operators, identifying the problem as specific to the Rolls-Royce engine oil-fuel flow [heat exchanger] which has since been the subject of a fleet-wide modification programme to prevent recurrences of ice formation in the fuel flow.[155]