Keith Williams retiring
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at 11:02 by wastedlife.
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TominScotlandParticipantThanks for the CV link, AnthonyDunn.
Must be the weekend but I am struggling to understand the negative reaction here to someone who, I suspect, very few posters know anything about.
As a matter of interest (Saturday trivia?), who would the naysayers out there have acclaimed as the new BA CEO – Richard Branson?
7 Nov 2015
at 18:08
FDOS_UKParticipantWell, Tom, if the new CEO was from Ryanair, how would that make you feel?
Irrational, yes, but I can understand why the the thought of a CEO from a low cost airline does not fill people’s hearts with joy, after several years of relentless cost cutting – feeling that this will promote more enhancements may (or may not) turn out to be false, but it is a natural train of thought.
8 Nov 2015
at 01:57
AnthonyDunnParticipant@FDOS_UK – 08/11/2015 01:57 GMT
Except that that is not the sum total of Cruz’s experience. Just how many legacy carriers has he worked at, with or for? Clearly, he saw (to mix my metaphors) the writing on the wall with the advent of European LCCs and (to mangle my metaphors) was deft enough to ride the bow-wave of that particular phenomenon.
But you just don’t get to have done what he has by having a narrowly one-tracked mind – in a commercial sense….!
Time will tell whether or not I am being too charitable and/or whether you are (ahem) “on the money”.
8 Nov 2015
at 02:02
Panda01ParticipantAll I care about is the passenger experience being improved. He could start with getting rid off online seat selection fee when booked on hand baggauge fare. Making CE actually worth paying for(the ideas are endless). Improving design of seats, particulary WT.
Dont get me wrong, food has inproved and the IFE as. Its just that not enough money has been spent on improvements. It seems like cost cutting or new ways to improve profits have been happening.
8 Nov 2015
at 14:18
stevescootsParticipantI say good luck to him, hopefully he will roll back on some of the so called “service improvements” I did not fly BA for several years as their costs were rediculous but past 12 months have done several SH and LH flights thanks to the Ex EU savings. I flew lhr to AMS on Saturday ET out and CE back. Apart from the food and a hot towel it was identical product, for £200+ why would anyone pay for that for £2 extra worth of foot and a flannel?
8 Nov 2015
at 22:22
FDOS_UKParticipantstevescoots – 08/11/2015 22:22 GMT
Good point, even more so when you live in the regions. I’m in Lancaster, so my options are MAN, LPL and LBA.
No direct BA flights, but plenty of easyJet, jet 2 and Ryanair. great prices, direct flights and an acceptable bus service.
You’d have to be mad to fly BA short haul from the regions (e.g. connect via London) and for my mainly ME long haul travel pattern, EK/EY/QR are in a different league to BA and they go direct.
8 Nov 2015
at 23:22
stevescootsParticipantI agree FDOS, My home base is Lincs and when I used to do a lot of short haul I would try to fly regionally, when doing my monthly Asia trips I prefer the product of the ME carriers every time, but when I can get Ex EU BA under £1500 CW including flights to EU when everyone else is 2K + it makes economical sense, at least I know I wont be disapointed as my expectations are so low with them.
8 Nov 2015
at 23:38
EU_FlyerParticipantI’ve seen Alex Cruz speak at several industry conferences, summits etc and he’s very engaging, sharp and knowledgable. I had the chance to chat with him briefly and he was actually quite amiable.
Whether, like Alan Joyce (the ex CEO of Jetstar) did at Qantas, he tries to inject [further] LCC strategy into BA is yet to be seen.
The reality is that all full service carriers (perhaps with the exception of the Mid East Big 3) have no choice but to tighten their purse strings by reducing costs and trying to extract every last cent of value from their business – most of which operate at very tight margins.
Meanwhile our expectations continue to grow as competition raises the bar in terms of onboard products as well as those on the ground – all of which require enormous capital expenditure.
Hopefully Alex Cruz will inject some of the personaility and creativity BA needs without losing sight of the bottom line.
9 Nov 2015
at 09:13
wastedlifeParticipantI can’t say I’ll be too sorry to see Keith Williams leave, but for now Alex Cruz will get the benefit of my doubt – although coming from a decade in the LoCo segment isn’t the greatest start in my mind.
The point is, if you are selling a differentiated product, you cannot do that on the cheap. And the consistent “feedback” from various sources on this forum is that in recent years, the premium BA experience has become a significantly less premium experience.
Whether Alex Cruz appreciates the wider implications on brand perception of the significant worsening of the premium offering (in everything from lounge experience to in flight catering, short and long haul seating via just about anything in between etc) or whether he’ll continue reaping short term financial rewards remains to be seen.
We’ll see. But I think I’m one of an increasing number of BA GC holders making a conscious decision to use other OW airlines wherever possible.
12 Nov 2015
at 11:02 -
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