BA strike seems likely, future is murky

This week financial pundits have raised a question that's been on the minds of many British Airways' customers: will the airline go bankrupt? It's a bit like asking the same question a few years ago about General Motors. Both are (were) mammoth institutions, employing thousands, and with operations spread across the globe. But the recipe for disaster are remarkably similar: soaring labor costs, huge pension liabilities, worker unrest, rising fuel and other operating costs, an aging infrastructure, and stumbling management.

So the question about British Airways is a fair, although disturbing one: can the airline survive? Losses this year could be record setting and a strike near the Christmas holidays is a very real possibility. That action–which would seem suicidal for labor and management–may be a pivotal point in the future of BA.