The board of easyJet yesterday survived a shareholder rebellion led by its founder Sir Stelios Haji-Ioannou, despite a 44% vote at its annual meeting against executive pay-outs.
But the war of words continued when EasyJet said it was considering taking legal action against its 37% shareholder for defamation, and Sir Stelios attacked Standard Life Investments.
He said: "Unless Standard Life can categorically confirm that there is no Airbus money in their easyJet stake and that they have no voting agreement with them or their pension fund, within 48 hours, I may have to legally challenge the AGM result given that votes with a conflict of interest have been counted.
"We are only asking for one clear statement, not wishy washy answers."
SLI manages the £4.6 billion pension fund of EADS, the company that makes Airbus airliners, and Sir Stelios opposed easyJet's purchase of Airbus airliners last year. SLI was still declining to respond yesterday, but one close observer commented that a manager of SLI's size inevitably had investments in a multiplicity of companies with opposing interests.
The airline said that Sir Stelios aside, it had won the support of 97% of shareholder votes for its remuneration report.
Sir Stelios has clashed with the board repeatedly over the formula used to measure its performance, which has triggered an £8m pay-out to chief executive Carolyn McCall and other senior executives.
He believes the return on capital measure used by easyJet inflates the airline's performance as it excludes balance sheet cash and the costs of leased planes.
Chairman Sir Michael Rake backed down ahead of the vote, telling investors the board would review the methodology on both counts. But he condemned Sir Stelios for the "unnecessary, pointless and personalised" attacks on the board through the media.
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