AIRLINES

Virgin Airways Threatens New Legal Action: Richard Branson, head of Virgin Atlantic Airways, set a 24-hour deadline for British Airways to settle his damages claim for alleged “dirty tricks” or face further legal action. Branson said if BA did not come up with “something sensible,” the protracted peace talks would end today. Last month, Virgin and Branson received $888,400 in damages from BA in an out-of-court settlement of a libel case over Virgin’s allegations that BA wrongly used computer information to poach passengers and conducted other dirty tricks against its rival.