[canucklad]

I’m definitely not a WW fan, but I do think some of you are being a bit harsh.
He is after all being interviewed in the business news slot, expecting to talk about IAG’s (BA’s) positive figures.

He then, has to answer a rather hostile interviewer about compensation claims, the drop from 1 to number 40 and then pregnant Iberian cabin crew candidates.

The question I‘d have loved to hear being asked is simply this…….

As a CEO of a customer focused business, are you happy with sacrificing brand reputation in order to deliver shareholder approval?

Overall, I thought he defended the indefensible competently, even making a sly reference to the ME3’s business model.

[capetonianm]

I don’t think the interviewer was hostile at all, he asked some very pertinent questions which needed to be asked. WW’s answers were slick and evasive.

I did like his reference to the ME3’s business model though, and nice and very apposite dig!

[canucklad]

Morning capetonianm

Hostile might be the wrong word, I wasn’t referring to his tonality, more his tactics.
Hoodwinked by questions “seemingly” unrelated to financials .

I think he was allowed to be evasive because the interviewer accepted his slippery answers to the specific questions asked. I still think he missed a trick, by not focusing on how the numbers have been achieved at the cost of service levels.

If I was a shareholder I’d love to find out how doing IT on the cheap is going to impact my dividends next year. Especially after the full cost of compensation is calculated, another question not really asked?

[JonathanCohen09]

Capetonianm, you hit the nail on the head when you said don’t fly BA as if enough people vote with their feet then things might change. I could not agree with you more and indeed have said as much several times before on other threads

What we really need though is for BA’s large corporate customers to vote with their feet as the odd individual will not be enough to force a rethink at BA. We need to remember also that there are many passengers including some of the posters on here who would be glad to vote with their feet but who cannot due to their corporate travel policy which does not allow them any choice. That is why the corporate customers are the key.

I am wondering if any of my fellow posters have any ideas as to how bad it would need to get with BA or in fact any supplier for a large corporate customer to say to that supplier that things need to change or we will take our business elsewhere.

It would be great to think that the little man could make a difference but the fact is that we cannot as clearly BA do not care that I have gone from Gold to Silver and now to Blue and have not flown with them for more than 18 months.

In the main EasyJet has benefitted from BA’s lack of interest in retaining the custom of someone who was a very loyal customer for more than 20 years.

Following WW’s interview and his comments it will be interesting to see where BA end up in the world rankings in the next 5 years?

[capetonianm]

Jonathan, whilst it’s a lovely piece of idealism to think that people voting with their feet would invoke change, the reality is that BA is in such a strong strategic position that for many people, much as they dislike the airline, there is no realistic choice. There are routes on which there is no other non-stop option (for example CPT for most of the year, and some Caribbean routes).

My travel budget and policy is controlled 100% by me and is as generous as I want it to be, and I never shop on price, if I did I’d use the dreaded ME3, Ethiopian, etc down to CPT. For logistical reasons even I sometimes use BA, much as I dislike doing so, on that route.

As for corporates, there are various ‘incentives’ in place with many companies and Travel Management Companies to ensure loyalty. The beneficiaries don’t much care if the humble employees have to put up with broken seats, no IFE, appalling food, grumpy staff, and everything that typifies what was once the number 1 airline and is now number 40.

It’s rather like what’s going on right at this moment in South Africa, a vote of no confidence in Jacob Zuma, and although there’s a huge and powerful ground swell against him, my guess is that he will survive yet again. I hope I’m wrong.

[canucklad]

On the back of your last comment Johnathon, curiosity got the better of me, in regards to corporate policy.
Did a dummy booking from EDI to BOM, our TMC prioritise Etihad and KLM/Jet at the top and in the preferred choice slots. A very expensive BA found near the bottom of the page.
Same dates, but changed the departure airport to LHR and surprise, surprise it’s a role reversal.

As for using BA now, I’m delighted to say that whenever I need to go down to our London offices I now opt for FlyBe. At least they don’t kid us into thinking they’re a premium/legacy carrier.

[SimonS1]

It is highly unlikely that corporates will move away from BA.

Partly because BA of BA’s LH and SH route network, and partly because one outcome of the race to the bottom is that it helps keep prices low.

There maybe some honourable exceptions but company accountants tend to be more interested in the cost as opposed to whether or not you were served slop in the lounge.

[JonathanCohen09]

Thank you for those interesting replies as it is good to hear the views of other frequent travellers.

It would seem then that no matter what we say or do there will be no incentive for BA or other similar suppliers to change which is a shame.

I will look forward to the continuing comments and discussions about the ‘World’s Favourite Airline’ and others too on our forum.

[CathayLoyalist2]

.I recall a year or so back, maybe more, a poster estimated that for BA to take a hit and change would require approx 40,000 premium passengers to walk away. I can’t recall the methodology for that figure but others here might want to use that figure as a starting point.

[CathayLoyalist2]

..and it just goes on!- http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4773828/British-Airways-flight-Las-Vegas-delayed-TWO-DAYS.html

In nearly every case where a problem occurs, whilst the delay is frustrating an ambivalent attitude by staff, just look at the BA Twitter replies in the article, just stokes the fire. When someone takes the time to show they really care about the problem the mercury levels drop.It is not just BA across the travel industry that handle complaints badly. The recent car hire postings bare testimony to that.

[K1ngston]

Ahhh the “Worlds Favourite” Twitter account!!!

[capetonianm]

for BA to take a hit and change would require approx 40,000 premium passengers to walk away.

I am aware of at least three big multinationals that I am involved with who have told their TMCs to avoid BA or have reprogrammed their travel applications to show BA further down the list of options than others. A number of small companies and individuals I know are also trying to avoid BA.

My concern is that in a couple of case for longhaul, they are favouring Emirates, whom I detest even more than BA (albeit mostly for entirely different reasons). Someone I know is travelling for >28 hours in each direction from LON to BUE on EK because that is the new corporate policy. Ironically, it’s not even the cheapest.

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