orbitmic

To be honest, I think that signs of BA pax displeasure is not, despite what some repeat, confined to those virtual walls! I believe most airlines spy on one another's twitter feed etc and the media is full of pretty damning stories too!

More seriously, however, AF has actually actively relied on Flyertalkers' perceptions and comparisons for years. They organised a huge Flyertalk do a few years ago which was attended by the airline's no2 and made it to the onboard magazine, and the people in charge of AF products and services have been extremely proactive in dialoguing with FTers as well as other frequent flyers (including both AF high flyers and people with perceptions of the competition). Without betraying any secret, in recent years, they have used it as constructive process to define key elements such as the new P experience, the latest European seat, menu concepts, the contents of toiletry bags, automated missing bags claims systems that enable you to start the process without queuing (quite useful in case of big disruptions), etc.

They have organised meetings to foster dialogue between passengers and every corner of the airline personnel from top management to cabin crew and ground personnel. At every level, they have even been extremely keen to get as much criticism as possible in as bold terms as possible, which I personally suspect has something to do with product improvements in recent years.