Frequent Flyer

After resigning from British Airways (BA) amidst an investigation into allegations of price-fixing in the airline industry, Iain Burns has been appointed as the head of Corporate Communications at Etihad Airways (EA). EA is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates. In June 2006 the U.K. government's Office and Fair Trading were alerted by Virgin Atlantic of approaches to agree on fuel surcharges with other airlines. At the time The Independent reported that BA was "seeking to distance its top management" from the controversy "by pinning the blame on the unauthorised actions of individual executives." The investigation has not been completed. Burns started out in PR with British Nuclear Fuels Limited before working for several airlines including BA. He subsequently joined the PR consultancy, Bell Pottinger, where he advised Dubai-based Emirates, before returning once more to BA.