srbrenna

Which is why WW has come out against the third runway. He doesn't want the competition at LHR.

rossmacd

There may be an element of rose tinted glasses, but are my glasses tinted when it comes to the superior products on the market?

Yes, BA are investing in the fleet as the 'existing' fleet is prehistoric (747s and old 777s) in order to benefit from lower fuel costs/consumption. This is welcome from a passenger perspective, but BA chose not to reinvent their onboard offerings - a huge missed opportunity in my book.

I cannot agree that BA are investing in new products. They've launched a revamp in WT+ for the new aircraft (which I have not tried). NF has seem some investment (great!) - but no one can claim it is a market-beating product, or even parity in many cases. For CW, well, we all know what that is like.

Flexible preferences

Somehow I get the impression that this is what you want.

Well I count new WT, new WT+, new F and new new F and a new CW coming. I see investment in A380s, 788s, 789s and refurbishing 20 747s to a very high standard including excellent IFE. Last year saw a huge investment in catering across all cabins. BA has generally an excellent crew including many on here like CIHY, BBB, Lite and many others (sorry if I forget).

Are BA perfect? No. Are they the best major carrier in the world? No. Are they pretty good, overall? I'd say so.

Oaxaca

Indeed, and WW made it clear as recently as the Q1 results call that IAG's response to any short term (this year) softening of demand would be to accelerate the planned cost reduction initiatives. Strategy change would require management change, which would only be triggered by the sort of negative results that BA/IAG have been far above recently.

Not that I have strong feelings about it, it would be nice to have if BA's product were getting better, but they are what they are in order to succeed in their competitive environment, and plenty of other carriers (OW and elsewhere) when I want something else.

Generally agree, though would hope they are not quite massaging profits in the way Tesco did. BA's nemesis more likely to be any threat to their hegemony at LHR and on TATL, though neither of those appear imminent.

lhrsfo

BA has three potential customer bases: those flying from the UK (and, in particular, the South East), those living abroad and flying to the South East and everyone else.

They have addressed the first by creating near monopoly conditions at LHR, particularly for those flying to a wide variety of destinations worldwide, which they have cleverly enhanced by using marketing to give the impression they are better than Easyjet or Norwegian and also by stripping the product back so as to offer an enhanced one to higher status members of BAEC. This allows them to obtain premium pricing for this product.

The second grouping, those flying to the UK, they market to on Britishness, whilst ensuring that they stay at a price point that's competitive with non-stop opposition.

The third grouping, everyone else, they recognise that the product is inferior and use price to fill the planes. Hence all the ex-EU fares available.

KenJohn

Does BA have to be great? Not really.

BA is making record profits so its strategy of not being great is meeting immediate shareholders/investor interested. The share price is phenomenal. When I first joined Flyertalk, BA's share price was under Ł1.

Longer term concerns? Top execs would have retired on large bonuses and institutional investors continue to prioritise on short term gain rather than a sustainable profits.

Nothing will change unless there is a major financial crisis requiring a change of strategy.

Swanhunter

There is tangible investment in the hard product however the premium cabins (and WT+ too) are by most metrics behind both the connection and JV partner offerings. That investment is offset by the continued nibbling away at almost every aspect of the softer product. The last round on EC changes similarly contained some good news - LTG - with a whole lot of bad.

BA's effective monopoly at LHR and growing strength at LCY should prevent a Tesco style collapse however I am not convinced the current path is the right one. A flight last night summed it up for me. No Fastrack security or lounge offered (BA don't pay for it), on an A320 with worse seat pitch than Easy or FR, a missing window shade and a bar missing any tonic or other mixers (round catered flight) pretty much summed things up. Laughable for Ł190 one way really. The limited benefits offered by LTG (priority boarding and an exit row in this case) aren't enough to keep me loyal to BA.

rosswill

For me it's as much about they way BA implement the changes as the changes themselves. With 8 LH OneWorld flights already ticketed an email from BA communicating the 1st June policy changes would have been appreciated, even if the content was not the best news to receive. They are quick enough to email at other times.

frb98mf

I have become a massive fan of IB's long-haul product, and even enjoy AA's new J (any config) over regular BA CW. I do love CWLCY, 747 top deck and the soon to be eliminated A321 mid-hauls.

My biggest bugbear is the nasty little cuts like cancellation fee per sector, refusing to interline bags except on a single ticket, arbitrary changes to Exec Club and so on.

Each of them is individually not a huge deal, but one does get a sense of death by a thousand cuts, and everyone has their tipping point.

Mine was changing GGL qualification without sufficient notice - I was halfway through qualifying under the old rules, and had specifically upgraded flights and taken BA/OW options where alternatives were better/cheaper, to make my first 3,000 TP year and plan to hit the second one. When this was changed to only 5,000 TP in a single year, I dropped all my flights over 1,500 TPs and went after *A status as well, as well as grabbing a match to ST to check them out too.

BA's meanness on this particular issue and the improved quality of other people's long-haul biz product meant that I was better off splitting the difference and having no extra loyalty to them than anyone else. This is compounded by these mean-spirited little changes we keep being hit with.

wb1969

The very fact that the new CEO has come from a LoCo airline speaks volumes about where BA is heading. Already we have seen some chipping away at the traditional BA model. Who knows what else is to come?

In the last 10 years we have seen:
1. Avios devalued
2. Reduced Avios earnings on qualifying flights
3. Club Europe disappeared other than in name
4. No more free seat selection as standard
5. No more free luggage as standard
6. Meals on may short haul reduced to a pathetic snack and soft drink

I'm sure there have been many more enhancements that I have not listed.

Struggling to tell the difference between BA and the LoCos now.

T8191

We have learned to compensate for most of BA's penny-pinching changes and general 'ordinariness' on our travels in l/h J. For our regular westbound trips, we now tend to use AA ex-DUB - the BA 'experience' is now mainly confined to using a 241. In addition, we travel with our own salt & pepper mills to avoid messing around with those ghastly little sachets. Oh, and a pack of toothpicks, as BA decided that a small plastic twig in the frozen cutlery roll was just too expensive to provide any more.

Oh, and so many other little annoyances. As frb98mf says, none of it is hugely significant, but just a constant drip of diminution of the experience a few years ago. "Nibbled to death by ducks" is also a phrase that comes to mind.

TabTraveller

As a shareholder in IAG I'm very happy with the trends at BA. Let's not forget that BA exists for my benefit as a shareholder, not your benefit as a passenger. It is often the case that our interests are aligned as BA needs to keep you spending to ensure profits keep flowing. But let's not forget that if a decision can be made that maximises my returns and does not stop you from spending then BA will have the support of pretty much every shareholder...

LondonAndy

I guess that it is a downward trend, but as my travel is about a third domestic, third European, and third long haul, I can't find anyone else who can match BA.

Given the ex-EU J fares I can do most of my long haul travel in comfort, and the for those that say BA have done nothing for us in the last few years, don't forget the Reward Flight Savers introduced in 2012 - a genuine improvement. For those saying Avios have been devalued, the off-peak fares to New York are now the same as they were 10 years ago.

bafan

Though, without any customers there won't be much BA will be able to do for you as a shareholder...

Skipcool3

Well the cutbacks have seen me move nearly all my flying elsewhere, Tabtraveller...
Most of my BA recent short hauls have been late, with no sense of urgency, minimum service on board, often insufficient refreshments etc.
Enjoy the share price, or do shares only go up?!