[SimonS1]

I’m sure Tim Fitzgerald said that EK now has 2x a380 on Gatwick as the services are completely rammed.

It maybe true that BA hasn’t pulled off one ME route, however let’s face it with Muscat and Abu Dhabi linked and Bahrain/Doha linked the lights aren’t being blown out.

Then again we aren’t comparing like with like, as it will always be easier to fly people from foreign regional airports to a home base and hub them. KLM do that very successfully as well from all over the UK.

The obvious risk is that someone else develops a better hub model. So instead of people flying BA from India to LHR and onto the US they start using EK, or LH etc etc.

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

EK will be add 2nd LGW A380 service in July.

Qatar have 9 daily flights to Doha and Etihad will have 6 when the EDI service launches.

EK are looking at a 6th LHR service (and possibly a 7th as well) depending on slots.

[acireale]

For the record, couple of week ago, I did send an email to Keith Williams explaining my concerns about the deterioration of customer service in Club World and providing a link to this forum. Needless to say, I have received no response so far from him or those who are likely to read his emails.Probably he is too busy ‘putting the customer at the heart of everything we do’…

[Bath_VIP]

I am coming late to this debate but recently it occurred to me that there are strong parallels between BA and my football club Newcastle United.

For those who don’t know, NUFC are owned by Mike Ashley who owns Sports Direct, a billion pound worth chain of sports shops. Since he bought the club, it is now clear to all Magpies that he intends to run the club as he runs his business that pays its way, keeps its costs low and is a viable long term business. Being successful in terms of winning trophies is not a priority for him and it is a matter of public record that they are not interested in the cup tournaments. The public target is that the club finishes 10th or higher in each season in the Premier League.

NUFC are one the best supported clubs in the world (let alone England) so this lack of ambition is hugely frustrating for many supporters including me. In effect, all Mike Ashley is offering me is a day out to see an average team play for a reasonable price in decent facilities and nothing more. Yet I want more than that but history shows that many football clubs have gone bust from seeking glory.

Based on my experiences with BA and what I hear on this forum, my description of BA would identical to NUFC. Yet I am a happy bunny with BA but not with NUFC. The reason is that all I want from BA is something that is more comfortable than Economy travel long haul for a reasonable price. Over the last two years, I have made 8 trips with BA/AA to Texas & US West Coast of which 6.5 were in Business and 1.5 in Premium Economy. The total cost to me (including airport transfers and airport hotels) has varied between £1000 and £1600 per trip for an average cost of £1370. So clearly BA have more than met my needs.

The moral of this is what do you want BA to be? A champions league team, mid table or lower league team? It all depends on your personal requirements and mid table suits me fine.

[Andrew66]

Interesting perspective , winning the 4th place trophy has it benefits and yet even their customers moan at lack of ambition at consistently achieve ing that , I think that by what I read and see with other airlines that BA are like an Europa league team , on their day they can beat the top 4 but overall achieve a respectable position , perhaps a ” fun league table ” should be created .
A good point is that NUFC do have a very loyal fan base ( bit like BA) hopefully an inspirational leader will take over ( Kevin Keegan to return a 3rd time ? ) Sentimental choice I know , but entertaining !

[MartynSinclair]

The only problem with your analogy Bath_VIP is that NUFC are at least able to play in the Premier league!

[MrMichael]

As a Portsmouth fan I know exactly what Bath-VIP means about chasing glory and ending up bust……thanks a bunch Harry!

BA are a 4 star airline with four star prices, do I want them to be five star like SQ & CX, no, not particularly. I think too many people on here expect five star service for 3-4 star prices. I know many are even now thinking of saying it is 4 star prices for 2 star services……oh….go on then.

[MartynSinclair]

@Mr Michael, the price of airtravel on BA has reduced over the years, especially when using ex-Europe tickets.

But I do expect BA and to a degree Virgin, to at least aspire to being a 5* airline. The big problem though, is without the modern products, they are just A N Other service, whom are used for convenience of network…

You read plenty of postings about traveller trying new airlines, even if the route is longer, just to try the product… very rarely do pax try BA, just for the product.

I know in my case I use BA for avios…. it makes a massive savings for me. But I do not consider BA anywhere near a Premier league airline… NO WHERE NEAR!!!

[MrMichael]

I agree Martin, a championship airline shall we say, with championship prices. Personally I do not think BA should try to be a five star airline, it’s current business model is sustainable and profitable.

[MartynSinclair]

I think you are being very generous MrMichael… there are plenty of Championship teams that have brand spanking new or modern updated stadiums…and lower divisions too… Fratton Park included…

I would put BA as a Frist Division team (and to be clear to our foreign readers, that is the 3rd tier/division of British Football….)

[TimFitzgeraldTC]

I’d argue that for bookings within 28 days of travel in premium cabins originating in London that BA are a 1st division team charging Champions league prices. Not often on a route with a direct competitor they are cheaper, and often the competitor has a superior product / service.

BA think they are a Chelsea/Arsenal yet they are QPR/Fulham (no disrespect to those teams). Sometimes deliver premier league performance but often they do not.

On that note not a great day for the Blades or the Seagulls!

[MartynSinclair]

Or the Owls!

[esselle]

Reading this, as I sit in The Wing half way to Melbourne, reminds me how lucky I am to be flying CX and not BA.

[acireale]

I am not sure where this myth of BA having low prices is coming from. Perhaps this is true ex Europe but from PHX to Europe (not just LHR), J is usually between $7000 and 8500 with W above $5500…Yes, I take it because it is convenient (only direct flight from PHX to Europe) but this is indeed Premiership prices for League 2 service…

[Bath_VIP]

The low prices for me come from a mixture of sales and playing the avios game. You are right that ex-USA has generally been higher than ex-EU but I recall that about 5-10 years, it used to be the other way around.

Having said that, I am aware of a number of spot sales that come up at short notice in the USA (across all alliances) with good prices but you need to keep an eye out for these as they come and go quickly.. Often these have been ex-EU in reverse i.e. instead of doing PHX-LHR, you would do PHX-LUX say and then add on a LUX-LHR.

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