London_traveller

BA's brand hasn't ever been this.

Its brand has always been at the more premium end. Or at best, definitely not a low-cost carrier.

This is the problem, and a fundamental one. While EasyJet, Ryanair and others bask in their LCC branding they're in the great position of starting low and building perceptions up from there, even if the actual ticket price isn't that low after all. BA just haven't operated like that before recently. And although economy would've always been seen as the 'good value for money' end of the brand, that's not the same as branding Y as LCC - while trying to have your cake and eat it by trying to sell the front of the plane as real luxury. A cut-and-shut aircraft with SQ at the front and EZY at the back? The brand identity is shot. And brand value is the one thing BA have historically done really well at.

This is the most fundamental flaw in Cruz and co's leadership; they just don't get this. How much does anyone seriously think Cruz genuinely cares about the brand value of BA?

Moreover, the answer of superfluous improvements (blanket, amenity kit) at the premium end with a too-vague date for rollout of a new hard product, is all too late. Especially when you think that people will still be flying on one of the three current versions of CW, what, ten years from now?

If BA doesn't want to make a serious play for the kind of luxury in premium classes that one can get with a number of other airlines now then that's no bad strategy, as long as it is a clear strategy and not pretending to be something it's not. In the meantime they'll just get found out by more people along the way.

T8191

Above points taken on board about "Brand Image" ... so how about ...


OK, I have no professional experience in this field. It's just a personal view.

Perhaps just re-branding short-haul services as BA Lite is the answer. That way it gets some reflected glow from the better long-haul service side of the house.

Porky Speedpig

I agree and I still get frustrated that BA doesn't seem to grasp that whilst it can differentiate on price, food, drink, amenity kits, reward points etc by seat row, the whole plane has a set of pilots, a ground crew, a back office, computer systems etc that can not be so differentiated and so the endless cost cutting in these areas eventually affects everyone to the same degree.

rapidex

Or Gofly.

HIDDY

You could all be right. If there really are enough customers out there willing to pay more for quality then they should go for it. I just won't be one of them as I don't want to pay extra on my ticket for a free drink and bag of nibbles on short haul flight in ET, a better quality amenity kit in CW or the 101 other improvements that get highlighted on here.

T8191

HIDDY, we need to differentiate here between short- and long-haul, I think. The subject about LoCo competition [financially] broadly affects the former, whereas the 'quality' aspects tend to belong with the latter. But you are right in highlighting the price difference for the receipt of 'baubles': I think the baubles should be much larger, and actually meaningful.

My mind, such as it is, tends to break it down into:I would hope that savings in one area could be fed back to real enhancements in the other, rather than into shareholder profits.

And, as Porky Speedpig implies above, don't even think about cutting back on the quality of the staff. They're the on-the-spot saviours of every situation, so invest MORE in Customer Services, not less.

That's my amateur Business Plan. But then I know nothing about running an airline.

Disco Volante

Show us the new seats.

Until then, its just a new blanket. And even that isn't available yet.

It's not a game, is it? The FT and the Sunday Times have run well-researched articles documenting the relative decline of BA. The publicity coverage is disastrous. BA has installed the old seats, which I think I first flew in in 2000, in its latest aircraft. WW has publicly indicted that he wants to stick with that model. Vague promises about improvements to come don't cut it when you are getting this sort of publicity. And if the only tangible improvement is a new CW blanket its pretty pathetic.

Disco Volante

.....

KARFA

The design is not publicly available, but BA have already announced they will be coming on the new A350 and 787-10 when it is delivered. There's has been some recent comment that the speculated design in the article below may not be the final choice.

https://www.ausbt.com.au/british-air...-seat-for-2019

Tobias-UK

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/28595365-post41.html

MPH1980

I think you proved my point for me though. I asked for a brand which has tackled all ends of the market at the same time. You gave me two brands precisely because the Toyota execs realised they couldnt go to market with a luxury message under the same brand they were using to shout about value.

So we got Lexus and it became their way of providing the top end with a product. But it is two adverts, two brands, and to lot of people, two companies.

BA could start a LCC, lets call it 'Go' for arguments sake, and tackle the market that way if they wanted.

But mixing messages on a single brand is a recipe for disaster IMHO.

BA6948

Well you've been had because ticket prices didn't drop when BA changed to BoB. For the same price you had at least a free drink and bag of crisps for the same price as what you would pay now. But BA will tell you that it complementary and not included in the price.

T8191

So the solution could lie in, for example, British European Airways and British Overseas Airways?

Disco Volante

I follow that, but the reason the design for the new seats is unavailable is because they are a long way off. When BA fitted its old CW seats in its new aircraft, it was clear to everyone that a new CW seat was a very long way off. What we have instead, is the promise of a new blanket. Meanwhile the broadsheet press are hammering BA and AC.

Disco Volante

^