Originally Posted by FT Letters page

Sir, You reported (March 8) that British Airways was cutting its costs and headcount further to improve its profitability. Your report did not say whether BA was making any investment to improve its quality of service; nor is any mention made in the company's results announcement of any intention to improve service.

I am writing this from a BA airliner stranded on a runway at Heathrow. According to the captain, all BA flights have been grounded because of a computer failure which means they cannot verify "the trim of the plane". Listening to the chatter around me, it seems no one has taken off on a BA flight on time within living memory. I certainly have not.

The service is now so poor that on February 6 I wrote to Martin Broughton, BA's chairman. His assistant e-mailed an acknowledgment on February 7, saying that Mr. Broughton " . . . is currently overseas and is, in fact, travelling extensively for the rest of February, however, I will ensure he sees your letter as soon as possible. I know he will be most concerned by the points you have raised and will respond to you personally on his return at the end of the month."

As of March 14, I still had no reply. If the chairman cannot even be bothered to respond to BA's customers in a timely way, is it unsurprising that the company's aircraft cannot take off on time?

Maybe BA would be better run by its personal assistants and secretaries - they seem a bit more efficient than the management.

Duncan Lewis,

London W1J 5DR