But you are not married to BA. Go and pick one of the alternatives: If you want avios, across the Atlantic AA is pretty good, eastbound QR/CX are decent. If you don't care about them points, there are other fantastic airlines (I love SQ) who are frequently cheaper, frequently better, and frequently more frequent.

From a psychological point of view, the ‘why do people react emotionally to an airline it’s silly’ argument does not hold water for a minute.

All reactions are emotional (including by the way reacting to the way other people react!) including the most ‘rational’ of them. In other words, science has moved away from the false distinction between rational and emotional for over 20 years and long accepted that it is emotionality (and so called affective intelligence) that determines the underlying outlook through which rationality operates and that conversely, emotionality follows from rational cognition and evaluation.

There really is no mystery to solve here and the ‘rational’ Are just as emotional as the angry and happy types.

The main reason I can’t stand BA; they force me to pay for a terrible sandwich on a 4 hour flight! Unacceptable, at least let me pay for a hot meal!

BA’s decline in stature is all part of the race to the bottom. For various reasons too numerous to detail here, air travel has become a “product” and referred to as such. This semantic change is indicative of the attitude both of the purveyor and and consumer of the “product.” The product is now mass produced and managed much like the delivery of any other product on any other shelf, continued cost reductions, quality tests to see how much the public will tolerate, and that race to be the cheapest volume competitor. And the traveling public mostly accepts and perhaps even desires it. As soon as an airline pops up from the swamp offering cheap flights from anywhere to anywhere else, they surge to buy the tickets (see WOW et al.) Then the airline collapses or limps along, but people still go for the seats. A carrier looking to offer a better experience must compete in this environment, receiving less support from a paying customer because the cheap seats are many many in the air and using up those gates and filling seats with customers willing to accept what’s offered and pay not one pfennig more.

I don’t have a “solution” because the problem is simply human nature. Been this way forever. Something that must be accepted and managed as best one can, making choices that are best for the individual in each case.

Very true. What I find amazing is that people (normal ones, not FTers) tend to be very price sensitive when it comes to air travel. It is almost as if transportation from A to B is it and the how is not considered. The surprising element is that this does not transfer to other travel elements (e.g. hotels have a broad range of products ranging from hostels to the Four Seasons).

I think you have summarised very succinctly in your post above, IAMORGAN, how some people react, hoping or wishing that what they care about could be better.

Im not British but I’m been here long enough to see that it’s not expressing hate, but rather a regret for what is lost and a hope for better things. Perhaps naive hope that someone is actually listening within BA?

I have no status with BA and no allegiance to the brand. However, I have family in the US and fly over about 4 times a year and try my hardest to use one if not two AMEX 2-4-1 vouchers. That is the only reason I use BA consistently. The current BA CW product with its 8 across configuration With its used and abused not so flat beds is pretty dire but they do undoubtedly have a very unassailable monopoly from London. Of course if an airline with 1-2-1 configuration with Singapore airlines service and German efficiency was available, we would all be flying it. However, I do feel that the use of the company name British Airways should now be forfeited as it is no longer the British flagship it once was. SCA would be my suggestion for a rebranding (for Spanish Consortium Airline). Now if Boris decided to fund Heathrow expansion by re-auctioning Transatlantic slots, maybe, just maybe, we would see some genuine competition and BA complacencies could become a thing of the past

My own observations coincide with yours. I have often heard people bragging about how little they pay for a ticket, such as the sub USD$100 flights that are about 1,000miles each way. Then the same person complains about the conditions of the flight, small seat, no service, no beverage, pay for all the details, and so forth. It’s almost comical. Rather, it is quite sad. They know not what they say.

I also hope that better quality and service would still exist. Sadly, I see a consistent and steady decline across the carriers. But again, the traveling public must bear some of the responsibility. Most will not pay even slightly more. For example, the all business class airline startups have mostly failed. There’s the one running out of Paris (I might have that wrong), but they struggle.

I am willing to pay more for quality service and frequently attempt to do so. I also strive to be a good passenger by limiting my carry-on luggage to very reasonable size, following the rules to the letter, and being kind and helpful to others. However, I look forward to the future when I travel less by air.

I don't see any hate for BA; on the contrary I think many posters on here will defend BA. I think most on here would accept that there has been a deterioration in the quality of BA across the cabins, albeit there remains a vibrant debate as to whether 1) this is largely reflective of the industry as a whole and that BA is largely on a par with its competitors and 2) whether BA has actually turned something of a corner and demonstrated some improvement in certain areas of late.