All these stories lead me to wonder why BA is so undisciplined with giving compensation under circumstances that ought not be compensated contractually/legally, and whether they could have been putting that money into services that otherwise were cut over the years...
Well I'm not going to knock BA for going above and beyond with a bit of goodwill where a smaller delay causes a significant knock on impact. It's things like this that can build genuine brand loyalty if customers feel they are being looked after.
But i agree that it does certainly emphasise the inconsistency of them often fighting tooth and nail to get out of paying comp where they are legally required to.