Former BA World Cargo chief faces jail time

Global - A former British Airways executive faces jail time in the US after pleading guilty to his role in a global price-fixing conspiracy.

The US Department of Justice (DoJ) said Keith Packer, former commercial general manager of BA World cargo would serve eight months in prison and pay a fine of US$20,000. Packer is set for a plea hearing on 17 October.

He is the third person charged as part of the DoJ's ongoing probe. A former Qantas executive was previously sentenced to time behind bars while a former SAS Cargo Group executive pleaded guilty to plotting to fix rates charged to US and international customers on air cargo shipments, the department said.

In August, the UK Office of Fair Trading summoned four former and present BA executives to appear in court for their alleged involvement in price-fixing of fuel surcharges. If found guilty, the four could face up to five years in jail.

These four men are head of sales Andrew Crawley, ex-commercial director Martin George, former communications head Iain Burns and former UK and Ireland sales chief Alan Burnett.