British Airways Chief Executive Rod Eddington said that US bankruptcy laws were distorting competition for transatlantic airlines by propping up struggling carriers.
Eddington, who retires from BA at the end of the month, also took a swipe at US government ownership laws and government subsidies for airlines elsewhere, calling for a more aggressive approach to consolidation.
Four major US carriers are flying under bankruptcy protection after Delta Air Lines and Northwest Airlines filed for Chapter 11 last week. They joined United Airlines and US Airways in Chapter 11, hurt by soaring oil prices and competition from no-frills carriers.
BA has cut 13,000 jobs since 2001 and along with European peers opposes US bankruptcy protection laws which they say allow carriers to hide behind legislation instead of competing by market rules.
