BA is claiming that many of the planes aren’t actually *empty*, just empty of *passengers*–they cram the holds full of cargo–and that the reason they do it isn’t to prevent other airlines from taking their takeoff and landing slots, but rather to get planes and crews to where they’re needed.

Given the patterns of some of the flights (same plane crosses the Atlantic round trip, in its normal time slot), even if their points are true in some cases (*every* airline has to occasionally fly empty planes to get them where they’re needed, especially in case of storms, mechanical breakdowns, etc.), they don’t hold much water.