Happy New Year from Alex Cruz
Jan 10, 2018, 2:49 pm
#46
Join Date: Jan 2003
Location: London, UK
Posts: 5,653
It's interesting. Clearly the criticism has hit home given his comments about always being a "premium carrier", however it struck me as very much a case of a few tweaks here and there, but pretty much sticking his fingers in his ears and going "lalalalala not listening".
The management team have had feedback from years of going to GGL events that all was not well, yet have chosen to ignore it.
Clearly something has changed. There's some internal metric, I'm guessing NPS based on the YouGov data that's too low to ignore.
I've written an open reply on my blog which will get posted in the morning.
I think the only way we will see meaningful change is when other KPIs start to change. I'm doing my bit having just booked LH/SQ F to head down to SYD.
The management team have had feedback from years of going to GGL events that all was not well, yet have chosen to ignore it.
Clearly something has changed. There's some internal metric, I'm guessing NPS based on the YouGov data that's too low to ignore.
I've written an open reply on my blog which will get posted in the morning.
I think the only way we will see meaningful change is when other KPIs start to change. I'm doing my bit having just booked LH/SQ F to head down to SYD.
Jan 10, 2018, 3:03 pm
#48
formerly mattking2000
Join Date: Nov 2012
Location: DXB
Programs: BA|AC|AZ|SPG|H|FPC
Posts: 1,182
"This year, we will be taking delivery of 18 new aircraft, including our first Airbus A320 and A321 'NEOs' with their significantly improved environmental performance."
This made me chuckle, what he presumably means is "given that British Airways is and always will be a premium airline, this year, we will be taking delivery of 18 new aircraft, including our first Airbus A320 and A321 'NEOs' with their significantly improved seat density and financial performance"
This made me chuckle, what he presumably means is "given that British Airways is and always will be a premium airline, this year, we will be taking delivery of 18 new aircraft, including our first Airbus A320 and A321 'NEOs' with their significantly improved seat density and financial performance"
Jan 10, 2018, 3:49 pm
#49
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: UK
Programs: BAEC (blue), VS Flying Club (red), Hotels.com (silver!), IHG, Amex, TopCashback, Tesco...
Posts: 83
You guys should read the email to Blues which I just got to my dad's inbox.
They left out the "British Airways is and always will be a premium airline" paragraph and instead left three blank lines (thanks to their premium IT team as we know).
Quite an embarrassing effort I have to say!
They left out the "British Airways is and always will be a premium airline" paragraph and instead left three blank lines (thanks to their premium IT team as we know).
Quite an embarrassing effort I have to say!
Jan 10, 2018, 4:01 pm
#50
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: UK
Programs: BA Blue, IC Spire Ambassador
Posts: 5,223
By BA marketing standards, it was a relatively humble and direct message. It's one step in the right direction towards a more authentic communications style that I've thought for years would better serve them (e.g. being more realistic and honest rather than pretending that everything they deliver is perfect).
I say one step in the right direction because "We have learned some lessons in this past year and where we have fallen short, we have listened and are putting things right." and "We look forward to choosing which destinations to fly them to, and we will let you know as soon as we can." were the type of messaging that feels reasonably authentic to me.
If there's one time a year when a company should send an email like this, it is now. BA have made quite a few legitimate improvements over the past year (far more than I think any of us expected 12 months ago), and it's worth highlighting those once in a while.
I say one step in the right direction because "We have learned some lessons in this past year and where we have fallen short, we have listened and are putting things right." and "We look forward to choosing which destinations to fly them to, and we will let you know as soon as we can." were the type of messaging that feels reasonably authentic to me.
If there's one time a year when a company should send an email like this, it is now. BA have made quite a few legitimate improvements over the past year (far more than I think any of us expected 12 months ago), and it's worth highlighting those once in a while.
A lot of his vision is good - particularly the "just do it" mentality, and I suspect an organisation such as BA needs a shake up in some areas, but I do think they must be careful not to undermine their brand identity.
[From a Bronze member having dropped from Gold to Silver previously - CE densification followed by catering changes for my most regular route of Berlin, as well as the ethics of how Gatwick crew got treated having to re apply for sccm roles did it for me.]
Last edited by IAMORGAN; Jan 10, 2018 at 4:09 pm
Jan 11, 2018, 1:07 am
#53
Join Date: Sep 2014
Location: Brexile in ADB
Programs: BA, TK, HHonours, Le Club, Best Western Rewards
Posts: 7,067
I think most of the comments have been positive regarding the fact it was sent at all, and the tone, certainly I think so despite not being deemed worthy of an email. What I think winds me us is these words are not matching the actions on the ground so to speak. While there are real improvements from BA, for a lot of people the flying experience this year is likely to get worse.
The best brands engage with peoples emotions, obviously, the BA brand does that, the downside of that people get emotional when they perceive the brand is not what it was.
Jan 11, 2018, 1:34 am
#54
Join Date: Jul 2005
Location: London, ARN, HEL, ..... or MAN
Programs: BA GGL / GFL, Mucci Diamond!, HH Diamond, Radisson Premium, IHG Gold, Hertz Gold
Posts: 5,872
I thought that the most interesting thing about the email was that within 20 minutes of mine arriving in my inbox, and within 10 minutes of each other, three separate FTers each thought that it was sufficiently important / noteworthy / life-changing to start a thread about it.
Personally, having seen the title of the email, it's the sort of email that I might have opened some time during the next 3 or 4 days.
Personally, having seen the title of the email, it's the sort of email that I might have opened some time during the next 3 or 4 days.
I'll wait my allocated 3 days going forward before sharing new news on a site specifically dedicated for that purpose, or wait until I become a Flyertalk Evangelist which I assume comes from creating many posts on said site
Jan 11, 2018, 2:16 am
#55
Join Date: Aug 2009
Location: UK
Programs: BD Gold, BAEC Gold, Hilton HHonors
Posts: 866
I'd have much preferred something telling me that as a premium airline they were now going to provide sufficient cabin crew to actually deliver a business class meal service on European flights, they were going to provide sufficient food in F and CW cabins such that the distributed menu was actually available to customers seated in the cabin, that the wine on the wine list was also available from the bar, that the bubbles would be chilled before the flight boards, that the crew wouldn't disappear from F for hours at a time on longhaul, that F passengers wouldn't be competing with CW for fun sized milky ways between meal services, that decent bedding would be available on "British Airways" rather than "British Airways but only on one route", that the service (and bedding!) would start to compete with Qantas and others..... *sigh*
Jan 11, 2018, 3:14 am
#57
Join Date: Apr 2017
Programs: BAEC bronze
Posts: 52
"...And that is without including our new slots at Gatwick. We look forward to choosing which destinations to fly them to, and we will let you know as soon as we can."
Whilst not bothered about not having received this email, as I've now read it on here, but I am intrigued to know which destinations the new slots will be flying to, but wonder what's wrong with using aircraft!
Whilst not bothered about not having received this email, as I've now read it on here, but I am intrigued to know which destinations the new slots will be flying to, but wonder what's wrong with using aircraft!
Jan 11, 2018, 3:53 am
#58
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South East, UK
Programs: BA Gold / GfL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,431
"British Airways is and always will be a premium airline and we are investing Ł4.5bn over the next 5 years to give you the best flying experience possible. One example of this is our transformation of the dining and bedding in our Club World cabins. This has started on services to and from New York and will roll out across all routes in the coming year."
I think these sentences sum up BA's problems. Why does it take BA 12-18 months to roll-out something as simple as new blankets and catering changes?
Now if they were rolling out new seats I could understand it, but how on earth can it take a company 18 months to make basic changes such as these?
I think these sentences sum up BA's problems. Why does it take BA 12-18 months to roll-out something as simple as new blankets and catering changes?
Now if they were rolling out new seats I could understand it, but how on earth can it take a company 18 months to make basic changes such as these?
Jan 11, 2018, 4:19 am
#60
Join Date: Sep 2013
Programs: BAEC Gold, EK Skywards (enhanced Blue !), Oman Air Sindbad Gold
Posts: 6,393
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I think these sentences sum up BA's problems. Why does it take BA 12-18 months to roll-out something as simple as new blankets and catering changes?
Now if they were rolling out new seats I could understand it, but how on earth can it take a company 18 months to make basic changes such as these?
My own view (FWIW !) is that - when it comes to spending ‘new’ money - there is no true sense of urgency or strong motivation. For as long as the bookings keep coming in for the current product, we will continue to see such slow implementation where tangible improvement is concerned.
Changes such as BoB (a revenue earner rather than a cost of course) do tend to happen much more quickly. Ironically, a much more gradual rollout on that might very likely have been beneficial in terms of identifying logistical problems and demand patterns.
