Price Fixing Charges Filed By U.K.'s Office Of Fair Trading Against 4 BA Officers

London, England (AHN) - The Office of Fair Trading filed price-fixing charges against four British Airways executives on Thursday. The OFT accused the four of colluding with rival Virgin Atlantic to jack up fuel surcharges from 2004 to 2006.

Three of the four BA executives are no longer connected with the air carrier since 2006. They were former commercial director Martin George, communications head Iain Burns and UK and Ireland sales in-charge Alan Burnett. The fourth accused is current BA sales head Andrew Crawley.

The City of Magistrates' Court scheduled their hearing on Sept. 24. The penalty for violation of the Enterprise Act 2002 is a jail term of up to five years and unlimited fine.

Aside from the four BA executives, British Aiways was fined $236 million (121.5 million pound) by the OFT for price-fixing and another $286 million (147 million pound) by the U.S. Department of Justice. Virgin Atlantic, because it exposed the practice, was not penalized.