British Airways is facing a potential loss of business from its valuable corporate clients.

A total of 41 companies have signed an open letter to chief executive Willie Walsh demanding the airline and the global distribution systems reach an agreement over surcharges.

BA has threatened to pull its lowest fares off the GDSs unless they reduce their charges for low fare tickets.

Patrick Lukan, Galileo's UK and Ireland general manager has been quoted as saying that his company has been relentless in its pursuit of full content and are not interested in doing a deal with BAthat has only a certain number of classes of service.
This latest news adds to the BA's recent problems which include baggage charges, the pensions deficit and union issues.

Last month, the Guild of Travel Management Companies urged both parties to reach an  Agreement or risk permanently damaging relationships with the trade.

The letter, which has been organised by the Business Travel Coalition, has been made public but will not be sent to Walsh until next week.

The letter says, "As major British Airways' customers, we are writing to express our profound concern about your airline's reported intentions to undermine our existing corporate travel procurement process by imposing new surcharges and withholding content from the global distribution systems and the travel management companies and corporations they serve."

"You are directly threatening the loss of your most valuable customers by imposing costs already included in the price of our tickets and hampering technology that is critical to the efficient functioning of our modern corporate travel programmes. We urge you to move promptly to conclude your GDS negotiations with your best customers' concerns top of mind."

Signatories so far include such huge names as: Airbus UK, Bausch & Lomb, Philips Electronics, PricewaterhouseCoopers and CIGNA. The Canadian Professional Sales Association has also signed.

The following is the complete letter and its latest signatories. 

February __, 2006
Mr. William M. Walsh
Chief Executive Officer
British Airways Plc
Waterside, Harmondsworth, UB7 0GB

Dear Mr. Walsh,

As major British Airways' customers, we are writing to express our profound concern about your airline’s reported intentions to undermine our existing corporate travel procurement process by imposing new surcharges and withholding content from the Global Distribution Systems (GDSs) and the travel management companies and corporations they serve.  This trusted, established channel provides efficiency and global services for our companies. Such negative actions on your part will make it more difficult and expensive for our companies to continue purchasing your product.

You are directly threatening the loss of your most valuable customers by imposing costs already included in the price of our tickets and hampering technology that is critical to the efficient functioning of our modern corporate travel programmes. We urge you to move promptly to conclude your GDS negotiations with your best customers’ concerns top of mind.    

British Airways, with its complex connecting network and global footprint, arguably derives more value from GDSs and travel management company distribution than any other airline in the world. Our companies demand a vast array of pre- and post-trip services your airline website simply cannot accommodate.  In addition, the security and whereabouts of our traveling employees is of utmost importance, necessitating the very services that only a GDS can provide. Today, BA’s easy availability and strong participation in the GDSs gives your airline a decided advantage in securing a premium share of our business.   It is therefore most surprising that you would risk this advantage by reportedly threatening to remove content and shift further cost burdens to us and other important distributors of your services.  

British Airways offers a global product to demanding customers with complex needs. Travel management companies automated with GDSs offer a reasonably priced, indispensable method of efficiently bringing your services to market and enabling our corporate travel programmes to deliver value to our companies and our employees. Our companies will direct future business to airlines that build their distribution programmes around our preferences; as you are aware, we do have a choice in air travel.  As you conclude your current GDS negotiations, we urge you to rededicate British Airways to achieving our mutual success.   

Sincerely,

1. Agere Systems
2. Air Products
3. Airbus UK
4. Bausch Lomb
5. BMS
6. Boscov's Business Travel
7. Canadian Professional Sales Association 
8. CIGNA Corporation
9. Colgate-Palmolive Company Hill's Pet Nutrition
10. Cox Enterprises
11. Dollar Tree Stores, Inc
12. Doughty Hanson
13. Financial Security Assurance 
14. Goodrich Corporation
15. Grant Thornton
16. GSDM Advertising
17. Harman International Industries, Inc.
18. HealthCare California
19. Intermountain Healthcare
20. International Travel Management
21. Kendle International
22. LasVegasConventionTravel.com Inc.
23. Leggett Platt, Inc.
24. Liberty Global Europe
25. Medical and Dental Defence Union of Scotland
26. Mercury Interactive (an HP company)
27. Moog Inc.
28. MTS Travel
29. Oracle
30. Philips Electronics
31. PricewaterhouseCoopers
32. Rich Products Corporation
33. RMIC Corporation
34. Safeco Insurance Company of America
35. Smith Nephew
36. Stephens Inc
37. The Travel Team, Inc.
38. Thermo Fisher Scientific
39. TRW Automotive
40. University Of Alaska
41. Wartsila Corporation
42. XL Services Ltd