BA struggles to explain bin Laden frequent flier miles

One has to wonder if British Airways decided to screw up and thus take some of the heat off another company with the word "British" in its name, British Petroleum (BP). Nah, that makes to much sense.

Instead, this is likely a joke gone bad. BA is apologizing profusely after it was noted that the LHR News, the company's internal magazine for BA staff at London's Heathrow airport, had the image above in it. The photo accompanied an article touting the benefits of BA's mobile-boarding setup, which permits users of mobile devices (like bin Laden's iPhone) to print out their boarding passes on the fly.

The boarding pass reads "Bin Laden/Osama," as you can see. Worse, it appears that somehow bin Laden managed to get frequent flyer miles.

While it could just be a joke gone bad, it's also possible it's a bit of ill-natured sabotage by a disgruntled employee. After all, BA is embroiled in a nasty standoff with cabin crew that has led to strikes.