BA pension funds probe airline’s finances
THE bosses of British Airways’ pension schemes have hired accountants PricewaterhouseCoopers to assess the airline’s finances and its ability to meet its future benefits obligations.
Due to the recession, BA’s finances are under pressure, and last week chief executive Willie Walsh warned that the premium traffic might never recover to pre-credit-crunch levels.
For the year to March 31, BA made a £401 million pre-tax loss.
According to a spokesman for BA’s Airways Pension Scheme and the New Airways Pension Scheme, the appointment of PWC was merely the result of the trustees being prudent and following best practice.
Pensions is one of the biggest financial headaches facing BA. Its two final-salary schemes are worth a combined £12 billion but have a funding gap of at least £1.5 billion.
BA pension risk-manager Robert French said that in the current economic climate it was “unlikely the company can afford to pay more”.
BA is currently carrying out a detailed review of its pension-fund obligations and what their funding requirements will be over the next three years.
The review is being carried out by actuaries Watson Wyatt and the results are due in the autumn.
The airline is currently in negotiations with its unions over pay and job cuts.
