Originally Posted by
camilledpz
How do you think that British Airways' shift to a low cost model impacted its brand image? Do you still think that it is a premium airline? How did your attitude towards BA changed in the past years?
View from the US: It is certainly no longer an aspirational / uptrade brand. (Only some of the Asians and ME3 qualify as such in this era though.) I used to anticipate BA flights with excitement, especially when up the front. Today I prefer DL or AA, front to back. Haywire service, grubby cabins, IT meltdowns, etc. aside, the biggest BA issue for me is that the company projects a smugly lofty view of itself ("It is a very great honor for you to board our aeroplane," etc.) that is mostly not paid off by tactile customer experience.
If I'm captaining a family of four I am certainly not paying hundreds in surcharges to secure seats together when every other TATL entrant, save bottom feeding LCCs, will extend this minor courtesy for nothing. Stuff like that promotes distance from the entire proposition.
Originally Posted by
Counterpointing
If you peruse Flyer Talk for even a few days, you would think BA is the worst airline ever.
To be fair that is true for almost all airlines. I am very fond of CX, for example, but do not recognize the miserable company portrayed on the FT CX board.