Former British Airways bosses and one current director are scheduled to appear in a London court this morning (April 12) charged with price fixing.
BA's global sales and marketing director Andrew Crawley, ex-commercial director Martin George, former head of communications Iain Burns and ex-head of sales in the UK and Ireland Alan Burnett, have pleaded not guilty to colluding with Virgin Atlantic to fix fuel surcharges on airline tickets between 2004 and 2006.
Virgin Atlantic and its staff are immune from prosecution having admitted the collusion to the Office of Fair Trading. The whistle-blowing status of the Richard Branson-owned airline will have no effect on the criminal case.
BA was fined £120 million by the OFT and £65 million by the US Department of Justice.
Both companies were ordered to pay back overpriced surcharges to customers, costing each millions of pounds.
Steve Ridgway, Virgin's chief executive, is due to appear as a witness at Southwark Crown Court this week.