British Airways

Two major airlines were fined $300 million apiece Thursday after admitting they conspired to fix prices on international flights and agreeing to help prosecutors investigate other airlines. British Airways, Britain's largest airline, and Korean Air Lines Co., South Korea's national carrier, pleaded guilty to antitrust conspiracy charges. They acknowledged colluding with rivals over cargo rates and fuel surcharges, which were added to fares in response to rising oil prices.

British Airways and Korean Air -- carriers with major operations at Los Angeles International Airport -- have each agreed to pay $300 million in fines and plead guilty to U.S. charges that they colluded with other airlines to set ticket prices.

AMR Corp., parent company of American Airlines, might be a buyout target of a group including Goldman Sachs and British Airways, according to BusinessWeek. The proposed bid is said to be between $9.8 billion, or $46 a share, and $11.1 billion, or $52 a share, the magazine said, quoting people familiar with the matter. It is uncertain that a bid for the company will materialize, BusinessWeek said, citing the sources.

A British Airways jumbo jet carrying a young man found dead Sunday in a wheel well at Los Angeles International Airport stopped at Cape Town, South Africa, Singapore and Hong Kong on routinely scheduled flights in the last week, officials said Monday. Federal and local authorities from the FBI and the Los Angeles County coroner's office continued to investigate where the youth -- believed to be 17 or 18 -- boarded the flight and how he died. Official results are expected later this week.

British Airways and the union representing cabin crew personnel reached a last-minute agreement to avert a short strike that was to begin today, allowing the carrier to reinstate all flights to and from London airports. Industry analysts had expected the planned two-day strike to cost the airline $59 million. The carrier is still likely to lose millions of dollars because many of its customers had made alternative travel arrangements.

A youth was found dead Sunday in the wheel well of a British Airways jet at Los Angeles International Airport, authorities said. A British Airways pilot found the body during a routine preflight check and notified airport officials about 4:30 p.m. The 747-400 had arrived from London Heathrow Airport at 3:15 p.m. and was to depart for a return flight at 5:20 p.m. Authorities had not identified the victim as of late Sunday, saying only that he was a young black male.

IT may be a bumpy ride this week for British Airways customers because of a threatened strike by cabin crews Tuesday and Wednesday. After negotiations with the union broke down last week, the airline began canceling flights. Even if last-minute talks avert the strike, fliers should expect several days of disrupted schedules, British Airways spokesman John Lampl said. The airline runs two round trips per day between LAX and London's Heathrow Airport.

British Airways blamed poor lighting at Miami International Airport for a commercial jet overshooting a runway with British Prime Minister Tony Blair and his family aboard, but airport and federal officials said the lights were operating properly. British Airways Flight 209 from London hit some airfield lights after it landed Tuesday. The FAA is reviewing all aspects of the landing.

A British Airways jet from London carrying Prime Minister Tony Blair missed a runway turnoff and hit some lights after arriving at Miami International Airport on Tuesday evening, drawing police and rescue vehicles that immediately surrounded the aircraft. No injuries were reported. The airplane, which landed just after 6 p.m. EST, apparently missed a turn to get to its gate and ended up going into a paved buffer zone, said Laura Brown, a spokeswoman with the Federal Aviation Administration.