flatlander

I am aware of this, thank you.

There is nothing to stop the above-mentioned airlines from installing an F cabin, and a larger F cabin, in the aircraft they fly to LHR. Yet exactly none of them are doing this.

subject2load

Duck1981

I would not call it 'hate' but BA is simply not a good, maybe an average airline:

- no free drinks in Eco in Europe
- awful seat pitch in Y TATL
- lousy inflight entertainment
- mostly average Cabin Crew, especially Mixed fleet reading 'Hello Magazine' most of the flight
- going to a kitchen to get free champagne in the T5 lounges when I have Silver status and don't fly First
- a disastrous IT

Why no 'hate'? Because I was recently in CE and the Purser made my day with his service. Or because I was recently on an OS flight and despite the captain's announcement of 45min flight time remaining they refused to give me a second beer when I went to the galley. Or I had last time for the first time the legendary 'AA dragon'.

Or because I understand that EK/ QR don't face the need for a great shareholder ROI and can invest much more.

But in summary, over all my flights, I decide where I get most for the Ł$ I invest. And that is simply with EK or QR towards Asia, or with AA towards the States.

Bohinjska Bistrica

I wouldn't call it "hate", but instead criticism.

What appears to be the cheapening of the airline has much to do with it, including but not limited to:

• Buy on Board
• Densification of the short haul fleet and associated reduction in seat pitch
• Being made to pay for a checked bag (albeit advantageous for those travelling without a case)
• Fitting the slimeline Recaro seats on the NEOs

These are the views of someone whose travel with BA has been all short-haul and also as someone who is a Blue and so enjoys no status benefits. I daresay there have been similar reductions in the experience for Long Haul passengers, including those in premium cabins.

If you make people pay for things that were previously free, you will annoy them.

Similarly, cutting seat pitch will annoy people, especially if they are tall. I struggle in the densified aircraft, but am fine in the non-densified ones. The NEOs actually resolve that a bit with the slimlines, but the trade off is that I find them very uncomfortable and offering poor back support. Unless you get Row 1, seating pitch remains an issue in Club Europe also.
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These measures are obviously good for BA and revenue maximisation, but often what is good for the airline is bad for the passenger's experience. Dare I say this is what happens when your CEO was previously responsible for a budget airline. These measures have been taken under the guise of competing against the LCCs, which you can understand at Gatwick, but leaves you a little bemused at Heathrow where there is more or less no LCC competition.

The criticism is, for me, justified.
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Andriyko

Nothing stops the airlines that already serve LHR from introducing the dream first class cabin that some here are longing for. However, airlines are dropping first class cabins, not adding them. While EK can't just start flying from LHR to U.S. destinations, other EU airlines can, and some of them (AF) even tried.

Cap'n Benj

Really? What people forget is that a huge amount of EK traffic are not O/D. Without a feeder network EK would struggle to fill 380s (as would BA their aircraft at LHR), unless they massively discounted their prices, at which point (even with any state support) they may well very much struggle to make money LHR-USA.

Air France tried some services direct from LHR to the US and pulled them after less than a year.

Donsyb

Even Qantas offers limo service in J on selected routes!

Cap'n Benj

Which routes?

rockflyertalk

Prospero

Between London and Sydney, Perth, and Melbourne, specifically flights QF1/2 and QF9/10. See https://www.qantas.com/au/en/qantas-...eur-drive.html

Cap'n Benj

Basically those directly competing with EK...

Jimmie76

I wouldn't have thought so.
That actually was a genuine question as I have/had no idea and I was too tired to look it up earlier. However some of the carriers on the Wikipedia list do appear to crop up on here in comparison to BA whether in J or F.

Emirates, Etihad Airways, Finnair, Kuwait Airways, Malaysia Airlines, Oman Air, Qatar Airways, Singapore Airlines, Thai Airways International

I was told once that the state carriers are all supported/subsidised one way or another. However that makes no difference to me as the only carrier flying from LHR to BOS with F is BA.

BearX220

These are the right answers. The anguish over today's BA is because of what BA used to be. Most alternatives do not struggle with burden of legacy perceptions.

Some of the decline is down to macro factors (competition, changing demand), but much is self-inflicted.

Management still presents the BA brand like they're Cunard selling first class passage on the Mary, but most of the time they're actually just running a water taxi with plastic seats.

Customers rarely make economic / buying decisions on entirely rational, unemotional terms, or with perfect information. That truth helps keep BA aloft today.

Donsyb

From the Qantas website:

Route Flight Numbers
Sydney <> London <> Sydney~ QF1/QF2
Singapore <> London <> Singapore QF1/QF2
Melbourne <> London <> Melbourne~ QF9/QF10
Perth <> London <> Perth QF9/QF10

My OH has just travelled LHR-MEL via SIN in business and had limo pick up both ends. I'm not sure where he's returning from (possibly Sydney), again to LHR via SIN and he is coming home by limo.

Donsyb

Yes, but BA also compete on those routes and don't offer it.