Betteronacamel

Well said Bullswood (#231) - couldn't agree more.

I too have been a BA flyer since the 1960's and as someone living and working in London I too want to be proud of BA and see them do well. It's sad to see that in the 15 years since I joined my current employer we've gone from more or less 100% mandated BA travel (chairman is a Premier) to pretty much using BA in Europe only. Travel has drifted to other carriers, often on cost grounds, but there is a widely held 'dislike' for BA. There seems to a vibe out there that BA just isn't what it used to be, and basically doesn't care, and stories like this (which admittedly is not a talking point in the UK) just chip away at BA 's brand along with all the other stuff mentioned here ad nauseam.

Yes, OK IAG is profitable and you don't become profitable operating a charity. Sometimes tough decisions have to be made. But it is how you make and deliver these decisions which define your company. Sounds as though they may have 'c@x8ed' this up anyway which, if true, also helps define how people feel about you. In your headlong rush to shave cost you cause more damage than good. Here the outcome is likely to be relatively localised ill-will that will doubtless blow over - although I am struggling to see how this helps them in HKG in the long term. Would it really have killed them to, say, have given everyone notice now that they planned to close the base in January? If nothing else it would have given them the time to get the process right! This would have given the local staff the opportunity, maybe, to re-negotiate their terms or come up with alternative plans. At the very least they could have used this time to find alternative employment etc. BA is acting here as though is on the brink of going under, taking harsh radical and painful measures to stave off bankruptcy, backs to the wall and all that.

Some people with long memories might remember the story about Concorde. When it first operated with BA it lost a lot of money and they considered axing the fleet. Some managers went to Lord King with alternative strategies, and he effectively gave them the keys and told them they had a year to turn the operation around. Which they did and Concorde went on to become a great flagship for BA. The current management probably wouldn't have bought Concorde in the first place, but the point here is that short-term or ill thought-out cuts are often a lazy option.

The other thing that gets me about this is that BA loves to play the 'heritage card' when it suits them, but in reality the current management do seem to want to kick sand at that at every opportunity. Perhaps this is what happens when you have a Spaniard reporting to an Irishman.

BOAC used to have a slogan which went 'All around the World, BOAC takes good care of you'. Now people feel more along the lines of '........., BA [expletive deleted] all over you'