Boxing Dirty Tricks
How Branson won the dirty tricks air war Virgins libel battle with BA is likely to be settled today. Michael Harrison plots the background. Corel Photo Paint X5 Serial Number on this page. IN THE summer of 1. British design company booked herself on a flight to Tokyo flying out with British Airways and back with Virgin. A few days before departure she was cold called in her office by a BA sales representative and asked why she was returning with Virgin. The woman was, understandably, taken aback by this unsolicited approach. But she was more surprised when the BA man offered her two free tickets from London to Paris if she switched to BA. She accepted the offer. Other Virgin passengers were not so lucky. In December that same year a retired businessman booked his 1. Virgin flight from Gatwick to Miami and onward to the Cayman Islands. Shortly before the flight was due to leave he was telephoned at home by Virgin and told that the aircraft was delayed for technical reasons. Since this meant that his young son, who was flying solo for the first time, would miss his connection and be forced to stop overnight in Miami, Virgin had rebooked him in a confirmed seat on an earlier BA flight to Miami from Heathrow. This is common airline practice BA Business Class and Virgin Upper Class tickets are interchangeable. When he arrived at Heathrows terminal 4, however, he was told that his Virgin ticket could not be accepted since it was not validated to do that it would have to be returned to the Virgin shop in central London. After some polite protesting a BA supervisor was called. In a letter to Virgin recounting the incident the businessman said I was then told in front of others We are in competition with Virgin. We do not like them, they do not pay us when we carry their passengers and we do not like Virgin passengers. Further protests were of no avail. The father and his son were told that if you want to complain, complain to Virgin and not us. Boxing Dirty Tricks Movie
The son was obliged to fly with Virgin despite the inconvenience. According to Virgin the two incidents were connected by a common theme they were both products of a worldwide strategy by BA to exert its supremacy over its smaller rival. There were different strands to the strategy, ranging from one campaign called Mission Atlantic to others codenamed Hunters and Operation Barbara. Were todays mother of all libel battles in the High Court between Virgins Richard Branson and BAs Lord King not due to end this afternoon with an agreed statement, damages and an apology by BA, the jury would have been treated to a great deal more detail about Mission Atlantic and much else besides. According to Mr Branson, this alleged poaching of Virgin passengers by BA and its refusal to accept Virgin tickets amounted to sharp business practice. The Virgin Atlantic chairmans allegations did not stop there. Boxing Dirty Tricks Band' title='Boxing Dirty Tricks Band' />In an open letter to BAs non executive directors, dated 1. December 1. 99. 1, Mr Branson claimed that an internal task force had been set up within BA, sanctioned at the highest level, with a remit to wage a dirty tricks campaign against Virgin designed to discredit and damage its business. He claimed that smear stories were being peddled around the press by Brian Basham, a PR consultant to BA, questioning Virgins financial standing and Mr Bransons other business activities. But in the climate of suspicion, fear and perhaps paranoia engendered by the fierce rivalry between the two airlines Mr Branson had different worries. His private houseboat and headquarters in Holland Park, west London, had both been broken into and confidential papers apparently removed. Cars belonging to senior Virgin employees had also been broken into frequently. Virgin also said it had evidence that Mr Bransons private business discussions were being bugged and that he and other Virgin directors had been tailed by private investigators. There is absolutely no evidence that BA was behind any of these activities or even that it knew about them. That did not stop Mr Branson posing the question, but Virgin now accepts there is no link between BA and any of these events. BA refused to answer the allegations in Mr Bransons open letter point by point, contenting itself with a blanket denial of his claims which, it insisted, were wholly without foundation. Finally, BAs patience snapped and it accused Mr Branson of fabricating his claims in order to garner publicity. Mr Branson sued for libel. Lord King and BA counter sued over Virgins original allegations. To the media the story was a gift Richard Branson, the anti establishment entrepreneur who summed up the buccaneering spirit of the 1. Lord King, Mrs Thatchers favourite businessman and the man who had saved BA from the scrapheap. But to the two protagonists it was the start of a long, acrimonious and ultimately costly legal battle. Before a word is even said in court today the combined costs of both sides are put at pounds 3m. Boxing Dirty Tricks 1993' title='Boxing Dirty Tricks 1993' />