I disagree with a lot of the article: my Flying with BA has increased about 500% in the last year, and I have thoroughly enjoyed the experience. I'm sick of Alex Cruz being the whipping boy on forums.

Cruz is the bogey man of disgruntled BA passengers.

He is there with the approval of the BA / IAG board and WW. BA falling behind did not happen on Cruz' watch.

The new Club Europe food is good. I've read through the FlyerTalk picture section on the new Club Europe, and despite some criticism, overall it seems to be winning. The presentation is lovely. I was offered three choices on a flight from Edinburgh to Gatwick on Friday. Random? Maybe. It was a great trip. BA continues to delight me with switched on, engaging crew. New Club World is coming. The First Wing at Heathrow is a delight. They've opened a new lounge in Boston (which I may get to use one day - I'm sold on VS if there's a choice!)... JFK refurb is happening.

BA competes in an environment unlike many of its competitors.

It has Europe's two largest low-cost airlines on its doorstep plus Norwegian, Wizz, Jet2, etc. all ensuring people have choices, and crucially in the internet age, ensuring that their fares are displayed first on searches.

Lufthansa, Emirates, Etihad and Qatar, etc. don't have this.
Lufthansa has very cleverly built up a fortress around Germany (O'Leary has accused them of stifling competition) and of course they have Austrian, Swiss, Eurowings and Brussels Airlines.

"Better" airlines such as Etihad, Emirates, Singapore and Cathay are now facing financial realities, and they will start cutting. Etihad certainly has. EK charges for seat selection, without the outcry when BA did the same.

And the thing is, unlike US airlines who are constantly .....ing about the ME3, BA is just getting on with it. Recognising that competition can be unfair but being very agile in the market they find themselves in.

I might sound like a BA fanboy. I'm not. I find BA Lounges including the Concorde Room, generally bad, and not a patch on Virgin's Clubhouses and they have issues with getting priority boarding right which niggles. Whenever Aer Lingus are offering an amuse bouche in their J class, and BA weren't in F class, I did think that was amusing. But it has since come back and that's great.

But I don't believe it's all doom and gloom.