I'm not going to defend BA management out of hand, cos they're as artful and devious a bunch of crooks as Gordo himself!
However, in BA's defence, it is one of the very few International carriers without a hub!
I work for BA at LGW and my wife for CO, also at LGW. Neither of us want to see BA take all its flights away from LGW (which it will do, given the chance) or CO take its operation to LHR.
<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">I really hate LGW</font>
Why? Do you
really prefer the Third World slum of LHR? Have you seen T1 or T3 lately? (and don't kid yourself, T3 is where CO would end up!)
LGW is friendlier and actually more convenient for Central London and The City with the Gatwick Express and Thameslink connections - far better than the slow Tube or the Heathrow Express (who the hell wants to end up in Praed Street (Paddington?))