rossmacd

I am aware that this thread could start a bit of a storm, however, let me start with some context.

I am a fan of BA, and have been flying BA on and off (latterly more frequently than ever than before) for years. My BA flying increased significantly after BD let the GLA route go. I will happily give praise to a member of staff who has gone above and beyond whether on FT or ba.com/welldone. Credit where credit is due.

Something that I have noticed more and more on BAEC FT is the amount of "apologists" and the lengths they will go to, to continually defend poor service, poor crews, delays, woeful food offerings in flight/lounges and all the other stresses that go along with frequent air travel. Is it just me noticing this more and more on BAEC FT?

Let me be clear, that I am not referring to any particular individual, but to the "feelings" I feel when reading some threads on this board.

As I said before, I will commend excellent service, but is there any need to defend BA (a global face-less organisation) from those that dare to utter a bad word about BA?

Paralytic

While there are a few on FT who I feel would defend any action by any individual representing BA, I feel the BA apologist tag is often something used by those whose line of argument has been extinguished, or proven to be incorrect. This usually happens when newcomers appear with complaints/topics that have been discussed many times before.

henkybaby

I think that some posters (maybe without realizing it) feel like they are in some form a 'part' of BA. They feel that the BA staff who post here are their friends. It has more to do with the nature of virtual communities than with BA is my guess.

dnajockey

BA, like Apple (and Sony a few years ago) inspire a stronger than usual "brand loyalty" which is perhaps sometimes reflected by positions taken on this board.

IMHO

globalste

+1

Swanhunter

^

LondonAndy

I suppose to me it isn't a faceless organisation - it is represented by the hundreds of staff that I meet that represent the company. They are mostly good, sometimes not so good.

I guess as a shareholder in IAG and a Gold BAEC member I feel a certain affiliation to the airline over other (probably very good) airlines such as Emirates. As a company they are like a good friend who you are more willing to forgive the odd mishap.

henkybaby

I do not really feel that newcomers actually use the term BA Apologist. It is the discussions that repeat themselves but in those discussions you have people who will always attack BA and some who will always defend 'it'. There really are a few people here who will (almost) always assume that 'BA' was right and the complaining poster must in some way, shape or form be the cause of what (s)he is complaining about. It is fascinating to watch.

oenophilist

Perhaps instead of "apologists" the word "appeasers" is more appropriate?

henkybaby

Sometimes I wonder if they may even think it will somehow benefit them in their dealings with BA....

sunrisegirl

Well at the risk of shooting myself, here goes.

Firstly can I say I adore my job and meet some wonderful people who travel with us. I try and contribute on FT to help those less familiar with the LGW operation in the hope of making things easier for them.

I'm also a regular traveller with BA and contribute from that viewpoont too.

My experiences have been largely positive but if I do have any issues I raise them directly with BA and don't post about them here. Partly because of I'd issues and partly to give BA the chance to address them in the correct way.

But I Find FT has changed recently. Lots of whines about increasingly petty things which in some cases are over exaggerated. There have been a small number of things reported here which I know for a fact haven't happened or have happened in a totally different way to that reported. For obvious reasons I can't say what or when this has happened.

That has, no doubt wrongly, made me sceptical of some things.

BA are not perfect, of course not, but I dare say they're better than some airlines.
As such I try and defend them. Is it so wrong to defend the company you love and who pays your wages?

I will also add that dealing with passengers at work is considerably easier than here on FT.

Paralytic

Yes, that's probably a better way to describe it; these threads often polarize opinion and that's when the name-calling usually starts.

Agree with this too; I know its only the internet and people make stuff up, but there has been quite a few times recently where a poster's credibility has been questioned for no reason other than because they are not painting BA in a good light. The tell-tale lines are

"There's always two side to the story"
"We're only hearing one side of of the story"
"We don't know what else happened"

etc

Presumably because of this, I've also noticed an increase in people feeling the need to qualify their sentences with the "Assuming the OP is telling the truth" prefix which I think is very discourteous to other posters.

henkybaby

That I will immediately believe! ^

oscietra

It also inspires strong feelings in the other direction; much is down to "cultural differences", and some of the complaints on here can border on the racist. Which inevitably inspires spirited responses. Good.

There is also the matter that BA inspires high expectations - probably higher than most airlines can deliver in the present period for the prices being paid - and the previous "world's favourite airline" moniker and Concorde flagship service furthers this, despite being unused for decades and years respectively.

There's no question BA has had a tough time of it over the past decade; despite that (and to some extent because of those tough decisions) it's well positioned for the next decade.

Trouble is, people aren't interested in "jam tomorrow" and the often unreasonable demands of BA's FT customers often lack the perspectives and workarounds we regulars know about and therefore adapt to to ensure a smooth experience (e.g. knowing which security queue to join at T5). There's also something rather vulgar about experiencing a problem on board ("the cabin was roasting") yet not lifting a finger at the time to sort t out - expecting crew to have ESP - but being quite happy to spend considerable time posting about it on here...!

The BAEC sits at the quirkier end of FF schemes, and if you don't/can't get your head around how it works, it's difficult to unlock all that is on offer - and that irks some.

In the UK we have a national fabric which includes brands like the BBC, BP (oops), John Lewis and M&S.

BA sits alongside those iconic brands, and being an island nation, which until the past quarter century was almost exclusively served by the monopoly of BA - many of us have fond associations with this airline facilitating family reunions, holidays abroad and other connections which make life memorable - that does breed a loyalty which is possibly stronger than is seen in more commoditised markets.

But like a football team, I think many will defend their national carrier as a badge of honour.

Paralytic

If I may be so bold, (and this is probably verging on breaking FT rules) I'd say that your posts do sometimes come across as defensive. However, I think you've summed up that reason perfectly. I work for a completely different line of business from you, but that company does has a global profile and has its fans and detractors; some of our products polarize people in the same way opinions get polarized on there.

However, I avoid forums discussing my company, but when I do stumble across things I know to be wrong, my fingers do twitch over the keyboard. I'd find it very difficult to be impartial if I did post and it is to your credit that you post here and help out your customers passengers.

That's because the rules are different on the internet; people can pick and choose which parts of a post they will respond to, can twist things a lot easier or can simply ignore the conversation.