Alex Cruz thrown under the bus??
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at 00:28 by cwoodward.
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CathayLoyalist2ParticipantAn interesting article written by Rob Burgess of “Head for Points”, in which he refers to an article in The Sunday Times,albeit behind a paywall, he does however provide a summary
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12 Jul 2023
at 07:32
BackOfThePlaneParticipantThe most interesting takeaway, for me at least, was that BA is planning to install the new Club World Suites on its A380s…..but not until 2025 (allowing the 787-8s & 787-9s to be retrofitted first).
With delivery of BA’s new 777-9s looking somewhat distant, this would suggest that BA plans to continue with its A380 fleet until at least 2028, probably longer.
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12 Jul 2023
at 11:01
esselleParticipantI believe that, amongst all the other stuff around financial and commercial planning, a CEO is responsible for setting a culture in an organisation. Normally, that culture will be aimed at everybody who is part of it buying into an ethos or vision about the way the company looks at/does something.
Sadly, it is evident that firstly Walsh and then Cruz set about a programme of cost reduction which impacted pretty much every touch point with its customers, eroding by a thousand cuts all the things that the customer wanted and loved from the company.
That translated over time to lower quality of hard and soft product, poor staff morale, antiquated IT and “reputational” damage.
All this may have been of benefit to shareholders, but the build back takes massive effort and a lot of time.
When Doyle started in the role I got the sense that his plan was to address this, but I’m not sure if much has happened yet.
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12 Jul 2023
at 16:52
Rferguson2ParticipantI think he was one hundred percent thrown under the bus.
The BA/IAG board and Willie Walsh appointed him in the position knowing full well his credentials were in running loco’s.
The severe cost cuts were all ready well underway before AC stepped into the role.
It is also worth mentioning that the Club Suite and Club World Do&Co catering were both signed off under AC’s watch as mentioned in the HFP article which was the first real upgrade in decades.
No, I am not a flag waver for AC nor a fan but I definitely think the Sunday Times article lacks balance.
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12 Jul 2023
at 19:29
cwoodwardParticipantThe whole saga makes very sad reading -almost a manual on how to destroy the value of a business for short term share holder gain.
The reputation as a world benchmark of a quality airline has for ever been destroyed.5 users thanked author for this post.
13 Jul 2023
at 01:12
stevescootsParticipantUnfortunately, that seems to be the modus operandi of many large corps now, share price today, future be damned. of course there is a lot more nuance than that and institutional shareholders are just as much if not more to blame. We went through a recent equity valuation for a potential offering, reading the report we scored lower on one section that raised my eyebrows as we carried no debt and were cash rich, worlds gone mad I tell you
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13 Jul 2023
at 07:43
SimonS1ParticipantIndeed. The report in yesterday’s Torygraph wasn’t very complimentary.
https://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/news/telegraph-travel-awards-2023-best-airlines/
16 Jul 2023
at 09:48
SimonS1ParticipantMaybe SD is listening.
If travelling on a short haul route to Cairo or Amman (sic) you can get a free tea or coffee.
Such generosity.
https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/cup-up-and-away-free-tea-is-back-at-ba-n6nl5mlmh
16 Jul 2023
at 11:54
FDOSParticipant“If travelling on a short haul route to Cairo or Amman (sic) you can get a free tea or coffee.”
Or if travelling in business class, you can enjoy the same legroom as on a Ryanair flight 🙂
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16 Jul 2023
at 17:43
LuganoPirateParticipantIn fairness, LH, LX and Austrian, all have Economy seating in Business to CAI and AMM, with the middle seat kept free. However, they all have a decent meal and bar service, with as much tea (in many flavours along with the traditional) and coffee as you can drink.
I may be mistaken, but up until row 6 on LH short haul, there seems to be a bit more leg room than in the rows behind?
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19 Jul 2023
at 11:44
FDOSParticipantLP, you are not mistaken. I’ve used BA and LH to Cairo, recently, both on A321.
BA J class pitch was 30″, LH was 32″. Neither was particularly great, but BA was by far the worse and felt like a loco airline on a ticket that cost £2k.
On BA it was not possible to use a laptop on the table, because the whole area was so cramped. What kind of business class is that?
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19 Jul 2023
at 19:53
SenatorGoldParticipantDoes anyone know what happened to the A321s (inherited from BMI), which were fitted with business class seats akin to those found on Swiss that BA used to fly to Beirut, Amman and Cairo?
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19 Jul 2023
at 20:47
cwoodwardParticipantMost were converted to a standard Club Europe short haul configuration. Four of them kept the original BMI flat bed cabins. These were the aircraft registered G-MEDF, G-MEDG, G-MEDJ and G-MEDU but I cant find them on the fleet list now. Retired ? T
hey had the B class seat that was almost lie-flat1 user thanked author for this post.
20 Jul 2023
at 05:41 -
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