[canucklad]

I’ve been racking my brains to come up with a word that best describes BA as abusiness, both now and in the future……I didn’t need to rack too long

“MIXED”

As for the difference between our 2 Irish chaps, one doesn’t pretend he’s something he’s not. The other one definitely does.

Case in point, by near stealth and by erosion , my prediction ages ago is near to fruition. BA short haul will morph into Vueling. It’s just that IAG man Welsh and BA man Cruz would never admit that plan because of the potential devasting affect it might have on their premium transfer travel revenue.

[WillieWelsh]

Well BA and Vueling have more in common than many might initially realised.

Both managed to p*ss off their customers in the peak of the summer with poor service and cancellations. The BA version has been well reported here but the Vueling problems were under the radar.

http://www.euronews.com/2016/07/05/vueling-faces-spanish-government-enquiry-after-stranding-thousands-in-barcelona

Hopefully they will face a significant fine for their poor management and the inconvenience they caused people. No doubt when this summer was planned Cruz was still at the helm.

[MrMichael]

I think Bob is less about making money from sales and more about saving money from buying and delivering crap that then goes in the bin. The financials are a two way street, it is savings and revenue.

As to suggest that LH and AF will be the only two remaining full service airlines in the future…..that’s a laugh. The pair are hopelessly in the red and having to cling on to outdated employment practices because they don’t have the guts to take on the unions. The only think LH/AF will pick up if they keep wasting money as they are is column inches in the “remember them” column when Woolworth and BHS are being written about.

[YellowBelly]

Should BA start charging Club Europe passengers to use their airport lounges? This would save more money so maybe a future announcement??

[EU_Flyer]

[quote quote=759570]Should BA start charging Club Europe passengers to use their airport lounges? This would save more money so maybe a future announcement??

[/quote]

What would be worse is if BA started to charge for food and drink in their lounges! Not inconceivable that this will be the next step for many profit driven airlines. Start off with a charge for spirits and champagne (like in the US) plus made to order dishes (again, like in the US) and then, before you know it, it will be free soft drinks, soup and pretzels only.

And the state sponsored airlines like the ME3 and TK will probably sit back and laugh.

[GivingupBA]

YellowBelly said, “Should BA start charging Club Europe passengers to use their airport lounges?” – you made me laugh [grimly], YellowBelly, but where does it all end?!:

*charge made for safe landings
*charge made for arriving on time
*pass the hat around for the flight crew
*entry fee into Terminal 5 at Heathrow
*pay at the carousel to pick up your bags
*leave a tip on your finished meal tray or else
etc.

***Dear crew, please take my jokes in good humour, it’s not about you! It’s about BA as a corporation. I have nothing but respect and admiration for cabin crew, and pilots, as I’ve said before.

[rferguson]

Not at all GivingupBA i’d be most supportive of your ‘pass the hat around for the flight crew’ suggestion :-)))

[GivingupBA]

rferguson, OK, let’s go, I’ll drop a tenner into the hat!

Seriously though, it’s already happened. Years ago on the old Skytrax I read a review of ******* [blanked on the advice of my lawyers ha-ha] Afghan Airlines which complained that the pilot actually tried to collect money from passengers for fuel. Unfortunately that review is no longer on Skytrax and I can’t find a link anywhere to the event – but I did read it.

[LuganoPirate]

GivingupBA, I also read that somewhere, though it wasn’t Afghan Airlines. I can’t remember who it was but I’ve a feeling it was one of those shaggy dog story’s that do the rounds and always happened to a “friend of a friend”!

Actually that could make an amusing thread so I’ll start it in a moment and see what else others have heard.

[EU_Flyer]

[quote quote=759607]

*entry fee into Terminal 5 at Heathrow

[/quote]

What about an exit fee for Terminal 5? They’ll make millions! (P.S I actually love T5 ;-))

Next up…

“Ladies and gentlemen, this is the Captain. The bad news is we’ve had an explosive decompression. The good news is that our oxygen masks take Visa, American Express and Mastercard. Extra Avios if you use the BA Amex “.

[esselle]

I wonder how they will fix the retail prices. High street? High street plus a mark up?. Would the latter be “enhanced” pricing?

[wowzimmer]

Reading everyone’s comments the emotional connection to a full service, complimentary food offer seems really strong. But on a rational level is this really such a bad thing? Last week Apple ditched the much-loved headphone jack on it’s latest iPhone 7 and labelled the decision ‘courageous’. There are arguments for putting BA’s decision in the same ballpark. Not least because of the ire that it has inevitably received. However, consider this…

:: The current offering is much derided. Most commentators admit they would rather buy before they board. BA know this. They don’t work in a vacuum – they see the number of passengers choosing to bring their own food has increased massively.

:: All airlines are adopting ancillary revenue streams. Those headline fares you see advertised are deeply discounted at the moment. BA may be putting bums on seats but the yields aren’t where they would like them to be.

:: Everyone talks about the impact that the LCC’s have had on the market. BA cannot simply ignore their presence and continue to do business like it has always done before.

:: Passengers know what they want and when they want it. They choose the airport, flight time and price point that suits them. They can choose what food they want to eat and their favourite beverage of choice at the time that suits them. The old model of bundling everything together in a highly curated form (all decisions made by the airline) is increasingly out of date.

But here’s the thing. If you still choose to fly BA just because you are a member of the Executive Club or another One World frequent flyer programme I would suggest you truly do make good on your threats and ditch your loyalty to BA.

Savvy flyers consider value, convenience (flight times and airport location) and ancillary fees above frequent flyer programmes.

BA have made difficult and unpopular decisions but they continue to fly plenty of passengers and remain profitable. A quality that is lacking in the other two big European carriers – Air France KLM and the Lufthansa Group.

Don’t get me wrong, I’m no BA apologist. I would love to receive the same service that I experienced in the ‘good old days’. However, as far as I see it BA is making necessary, reactive steps to a vastly changed market in European Aviation.

[TominScotland]

Wowzimmer, a balanced and sensible analysis here – thank you. No ‘traditional’ (rather than full-service) airlines make money on European short-haul and all are adapting in different ways – closing bases (Swiss), using lower cost regional subsidiaries for some routes (Lufthansa, Air France) and, as others have pointed, moving to BOB. So like wowzimmer, I am not sure what the fuss and angst is about……

[wowzimmer]

The one thing that I failed to say in defence of loyal BA customers is that I do truly believe that high-status passengers do deserve recognition for their contribution to BA’s bottom line.

With that in mind, I would like to think that BA will provide incentives surrounding the new BOB offering – Such as a complimentary sandwich to Silver and Gold card holders travelling in economy for example. No different than a hotel chain offering free wifi or premium movies to loyal customers.

I’m sure they’ve done the math either way however and I very much imagine the implementation will go down to how great they see the risk is of their status passengers abandoning them on the back of this decision.

[FDOS_UK]

Last week Apple ditched the much-loved headphone jack on it’s latest iPhone 7 and labelled the decision ‘courageous’. There are arguments for putting BA’s decision in the same ballpark.

The difference is that Apple is moving onwards and upwards with a better solution, wireless headphones, whilst BA is moving downards by removing a feature.

I don’t much care, but as a strategy it’s ugly and I believe foolish.

A world class brand should be able to lead from the front by innovation, not by simply cutting back, that isn’t innovative and it is letting brands who were non-entities until recent years drive the market – world class brands lead, not follow.

But I don’t own any shares, so what the hell and it is going to produce an excellent case study for my management development programmes, so it’s good for me.

[Author]

Posts