But the real key to the merger is US Airways' comprehensive service to small cities along the East Coast.

WSJ: Little overlap in American, US Airways routes

British Airways said there had been a "very small number of cases" where people who had checked in with symptoms of H1N1 had been advised not to travel after having medical checks.

CNN: Airlines stop swine flu victims flying

Those particles are small enough to stay suspended in the air for hours, and can enter into the airways of a person's lungs, Dr McNerney said.

BBC: 10 things about the vuvuzela

America is right to demand more open access to Heathrow, the world's biggest and most lucrative international hub, which is now restricted across the Atlantic to a small club of airlines known as the Heathrow Four: United Airlines, American Airlines, British Airways and Virgin Atlantic.

ECONOMIST: Free the Heathrow Four

Nadia Eweida, a British Airways check-in clerk who had been suspended by the company for insisting on wearing a small silver cross, had been vindicated.

BBC: Analysis: Milestone left in Christian-secular debate

Small-sized airlines are dropping out of the skies as record oil prices take their toll, giving British Airways a choice opportunity to boost its own tiny transatlantic venture.

FORBES: British Airways Lands L'Avion