British Airways The key trends for the British Airways Plc Group are shown below. On the merger with Iberia, the accounting reference date was changed from 31 March to 31 December; figures below are therefore for the years to 31 March up to 2010, for the nine months to 31 December 2010, and for the years to 31 December thereafter: 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
History of British Airways operating 16 and had 800 staff. British Airways also entered the French market in 1994 by purchasing a 49.9% stake in TAT European Airlines, and 70% of Air Liberté in 1997, seeking to challenge the dominance of Air France. 1993 was a highly significant year of expansion and change for British Airways, as it purchased a 25% stake in Australian airline Qantas, a 24% stake in American airline USAir, and wholly acquired Brymon Airways to form BA Connect. BA had planned to acquire as much as a 44% share in USAir, but backed down following a lack of approval from