David Fells Goliath

FIRST-CLASS PASSENGERS ARRIVING AT J.F.K. airport in New York City for Virgin Atlantic flights were often surprised when agents met them, apologized for scheduling problems, then steered them to British Airways flights. What they did not know was that the agents were really B.A. employees. Other passengers planning trips on Virgin were taken aback when called at home by British Airways employees offering them incentives to switch to B.A. That was only the half of it.

In a remarkable campaign of dirty tricks that used code names such as "Mission Atlantic" and "Operation Covent Garden," B.A. (which operates 250 airliners) fought for more than two years to destroy the reputation of its tiny (eight planes) competitor and steal its passengers. But a London court has ordered the giant airline to pay Virgin's flamboyant founder Richard Branson $945,000 in damages and pick up court costs approaching $3 million. Branson is now mulling whether to sue B.A. in U.S. courts.