BA investigated for possible price fixing

Reuters reports that the United Kingdom's Office of Fair Trading (OFT) raided British Airways in mid-June as part of an investigation involving possible price fixing.

BA says two executives have been given leaves of absence during the investigation: Commercial Director George Martin and Head of Communications Iain Burns.

In a prepared statement, British Airways says its policy “is to conduct all business in full compliance with all applicable competition laws”. The carrier says it is assisting the OFT, as well as the United States' Department of Justice, which is also helping conduct the probe.

American Airlines, which is BA's key oneworld alliance partner, says it has been contacted by U.S. authorities, but has not been implicated in the investigation. In a statement, American says it “has received a United States federal grand jury subpoena in connection with a government investigation into alleged price fixing in the air passenger industry”.

United Airlines and Virgin Atlantic say they are cooperating with authorities.