"The only airline that understand is BA"
Dec 29, 2019, 5:46 pm
#1
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"The only airline that understand is BA"
Rewatching Peep Show recently and was reminded of this exchange from Season 3, Episode 4:
Big Suze: It's just my sister's just come off a moped in Zakynthos, and she might have to have a pin in her leg. And she flew budget, so it'll be a nightmare coming through security. The only airline that really understands is BA.
Mark: Oh, yeah. I know. They're great, aren't they?
It's a funny exchange, but (forgive me as an American), what's the joke here? Is it just pure irony, like me (obviously lying) stating that AA is so wonderful? Or are they saying that Brits are so endeared to BA that they're blind to BA's foibles? Or something else I'm missing?
Big Suze: It's just my sister's just come off a moped in Zakynthos, and she might have to have a pin in her leg. And she flew budget, so it'll be a nightmare coming through security. The only airline that really understands is BA.
Mark: Oh, yeah. I know. They're great, aren't they?
It's a funny exchange, but (forgive me as an American), what's the joke here? Is it just pure irony, like me (obviously lying) stating that AA is so wonderful? Or are they saying that Brits are so endeared to BA that they're blind to BA's foibles? Or something else I'm missing?
Dec 29, 2019, 6:05 pm
#3
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Dec 29, 2019, 6:07 pm
#4
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Irony is when the contextual definition is opposite the literal definition. There's a lot of overlap between the two. Because I'm stating an objective fact, and not deriding an individual, I call it irony.
Dec 29, 2019, 6:12 pm
#5
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How I read it; Thr character ‘Suzie’ is portrayed (not that well in my opinion) as a snob, so the initial comment about her sister flying budget but in BA understands is her being a snob whereas Mark/‘ reply is actually just him trying to agree with her as he wants sex and I suspect if she had said - I never fly BA as QR gives me Dine on Demand which 100% of customers
like, he would have agreed with that too 😂
like, he would have agreed with that too 😂
Last edited by navylad; Dec 29, 2019 at 6:17 pm
Dec 29, 2019, 6:39 pm
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Dec 29, 2019, 10:00 pm
#8
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Dec 29, 2019, 10:30 pm
#9
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Dec 29, 2019, 11:53 pm
#12
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FR’s reputation at the time was pretty much in the gutter. BA was still handing out Avios for service issues with near reckless abandon.
To fit the line now would probably involve something like “Only BA flying into London City with decent legroom and free catering”. Not quite as snappy or impactful.
Dec 30, 2019, 1:54 am
#13
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It certainly is - 2005 I think. As you say, the aviation world was very different at that point, for both legacy and LCC airlines.
FR’s reputation at the time was pretty much in the gutter. BA was still handing out Avios for service issues with near reckless abandon.
To fit the line now would probably involve something like “Only BA flying into London City with decent legroom and free catering”. Not quite as snappy or impactful.
FR’s reputation at the time was pretty much in the gutter. BA was still handing out Avios for service issues with near reckless abandon.
To fit the line now would probably involve something like “Only BA flying into London City with decent legroom and free catering”. Not quite as snappy or impactful.
Yes of course it was pre-BOB, but catering had already started to be slashed ok short-haul in. a bid to start competing against the LCCs. On LH, BA introduced sleeper services from North America and the Middle East. BA also opened a champagne bar in the F lounge at LHR T1 and increased functionality on BA.com to allow pax to check in for flights and perform simple changes to their bookings.
BA pax numbers has grown by 3.5%, BA celebrated 65 years of operating from Birmingham and it had sold its stake in QF, had won best airline, best first class, best business class, best economy class, best longhaul airline, best shorthaul airline and best frequent flyer programme at the business traveller awards where OW alliance won the best airline alliance.
Last edited by navylad; Dec 30, 2019 at 7:21 am
Dec 30, 2019, 6:51 am
#14
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Whilst I have no doubt that BA was different 14 years ago, this was well into the time when BA was trying to compete against LCC, they had already launched GO and had it brought out by U2 3 years earlier. Wizz air has been launched the year before and FR reputation was in the gutter (where it remains in my opinion) but complaints against the airline were down a 5th (a realisation that non-existent customer service that it had offered in the late 90s and evening boasted about on BBC Watchdog had to change), whilst the number of cancelled flights by LCC was being highlighted (before EC261/04 came into force).
Yes of course it was pre-BOB, but catering had already started to be slashed ok short-haul in. a bid to start competing against the LCCs. On LH, BA introduced sleeper services from North America and the Middle East. BA also opened a champagne bar in the F lounge at LHR T1 and increased functionality on BA.com to allow pax to check in for flights and perform simple changes to their bookings.
BA pax numbers has grown by 3.5%, BA celebrated 65 years of operating from Birmingham and it had sold its stake in QF, had won best airline, best first class, best business class, best economy class, best longhaul airline, best shorthaul airline and best frequent flyer programme at the business traveller awards where OW alliance won the best airline alliance.
Yes of course it was pre-BOB, but catering had already started to be slashed ok short-haul in. a bid to start competing against the LCCs. On LH, BA introduced sleeper services from North America and the Middle East. BA also opened a champagne bar in the F lounge at LHR T1 and increased functionality on BA.com to allow pax to check in for flights and perform simple changes to their bookings.
BA pax numbers has grown by 3.5%, BA celebrated 65 years of operating from Birmingham and it had sold its stake in QF, had won best airline, best first class, best business class, best economy class, best longhaul airline, best shorthaul airline and best frequent flyer programme at the business traveller awards where OW alliance won the best airline alliance.
Dec 30, 2019, 11:14 am
#15
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I have no doubt somewhere someone has saved £xxx per plane from Cleaner cuts and will get a pat on the back but I wonder how much consideration is given to the Avios handed out as compensation and what that’s worth. Being a large corporation like it is I doubt the dots have been connected.