BY, GROUP 4 SECTION 2

BRITISH AIRWAYS & VIRGIN ATLANTIC

ABOUT BRITISH AIRWAYS

One of the biggest players in the airline industry Mission Statement- To be the best & most successful Co. in airline industry Putting the customers first It was Involved in series of controversial cases Sky train, British Midland etc. Strong Connections with political & government decision makers Political parties members interest in BA - Donations, benefits, free flights etc.

ABOUT CASE

Virgin Atlantic-Richard Bransons airline-newcomer. Cannot find favorable slots due to competition from BA. A column called Dirty Tricks published in newspaper stating that Richard Branson has become bankrupt and is trying to evade taxes. Richard Branson had to sell Virgin Records to fight this case. BA used illegal means such as phone tapping and to hack computers of Virgin to retain its customers to fly with BA rather than with Virgin.

CONTINUE.

Virgin sued BA for libel, anti competitive measure, phone tapping etc. Courts found BA guilty ,LIBEL CASE-BA ended up paying $1.2 M and was considered the biggest payout for a libel case which was settled out of court. Richard Branson leveraged this win to arrive on the world stage and use himself as a brand ambassador for Virgin Atlantic by flying on a balloon across the Atlantic.

COMPARISON

Virgin Atlantic
Employees Aircrafts Passengers/year Financials(1991) Turnover 2400 8 1 million 3 million loss X

British Airways
48450 227 25 million 3 14 X

BRITISH AIRWAYS CAMPAIGN AGAINST VIRGIN ATLANTIC

Switch-Selling Persuading Virgins passengers at airports to switch to BA Cold Calling Virgins customers Allegedly hacking into computers for sensitive information Breach of Data protection Act

Operation Barbara Report on Virgin Atlantic by a PR consultant hired by BA Cost of 40,000 Sanctioned by Chief Executive Sir Collin Marshall Aim at tainting the image of Richard Branson & Virgin Atlantic.

Covent Garden Worries within BA Find the mole in the midst Allegations of spying by Virgin.

RESULTS Bad British Airways reputation Press unsympathetically criticized British Airways. Customer loyalty was retained as customers had other priorities apart from competition when choosing the airline The opposition asked for resignation of the board directors. Good image for Virgin Atlantic Opening up of competition in civil industry

CONCEPTSUTILITARIAN CONCEPT

In this concept you may use whatever means (act on whatever motives) are necessary to achieve an end that increases happiness. Right action is the one that will provide the people with greatest amount of benefits with minimum harms. BA used all illegal means so this theory cannot be applied here because: Illegal means used by its employees to do phone tapping and to hack computers of Virgin BA used its political connections lead to favourable situation for BA. Oligopoly enjoyed by BA.

CATEGORICAL IMPERATIVE

Categorical Imperative is a decision rule for right action you shouldnt do what you wouldnt want others to do you ought not treat humans as a means to an end if your motive for action (maxim) passes the categorical imperative, your action is permissible. Customer loyalty was retained as customers had other priorities apart from competition when choosing the airline. Current campaign only damaged BAs image.

Thank You