Genius1

The demise of BA outstation lounges in several locations is indeed disappointing, but the lack of access to third party lounges is temporary whilst almost nobody's travelling. In 'normal' times, almost all destinations bar a few exceptions have lounges to which any BA J passenger can access, regardless of their status or how much they've paid for their ticket - which is no longer the case for QR J passengers.

rockflyertalk

I would agree that BA lost it’s focus, but I’d also say it was a business that was living off it’s reputation from years gone by.

BA has needed a lot of transformation which has happened but what has been transformed has been questionable, some good and some clearly controversial.

BoB rings the loudest in this, especially as the impact is for a vast audience, people will argue airlines/fares have to go to a BoB model or it had to happen etc. I get that but following a cost initiative, trend or idealism doesn’t always pay off.

So I do wonder if some of Cruz decisions cost him his job in the end or whether he really was just a WW puppet. We will never really know. But with both these characters gone, BA has the opportunity to be a better airline than it was.

Club Suites are a great improvement but they just level the field, rather than offer any real wow attraction in the competition. It could be said the same for BoB that BA were simply putting themselves on level with everyone else.

So there’s a case to be had that if your standards set are mid-level, average expectations then that’s the airline you become. No longer the worlds fav or the first to have a flat bed but merely a good airline. BA needs to work out if it wants to be an average airline or the world’s favourite again!

Smid

I'm done with QR now they've removed seat reservation and lounge access from their lowest business fares, my voucher for the Thailand trip missed last April has been cashed in now, and they're now a OW airline I won't fly (they did not cut the fares). So he's one to talk.

oneworldglobetrotter

But the real question is what constitutes world’s favourite airline? It’s such a subjective ‘title’.

For some people it might be best network, for some it might be the FFP, for others it might be convenience (ie LHR position) for others it might be frequency (ie multiple daily flights on business routes). For others it might be BOB. For others, like Qatar & Al Baker you would think it would be financial return and dividends. He and his company of course did receive handsome financial returns while BA was achieving a 2/10 performance.

I think that title is a nonsense. Of course there’s things BA can do better but trying to be the world’s favourite airline should be completely dropped from any discussion. For me, BA should just try to be better every year. Be that on network, pricing, product, financial return. And in many ways pre-COVID they were doing that, possibly at too slow a pace for some and that indeed could be a fair criticism. But let’s forget this nonsense of being “The World’s Favourite Airline.”

rockflyertalk

It can be subjective and I appreciate that. But ultimately the marketing team were, I believe I understood correctly, trying to convey an over arching message that BA were your favourite airline regardless of what part.

I always come from a passenger, customer, user perspective so for me it’s about the entire customer experience. I don’t have any feeling towards financial health other than the extremes so they aren’t blowing profits on crazy things or losing hideous amounts by ridiculous mismanagement.

Just make money, pay/look after your staff well and your customers.

If we want to drop the slogan then fine but ultimately a company has to aim for a level of standards. So if that’s the worlds best airline or the airline with the best staff, whatever or however you want to measure it, a label/slogan is inevitable.

Grace B

Michael O'Leary perhaps?

FlyerTalker324193

Still better than BA where they've removed complimentary advanced seat reservation from all their business fares, including the highest ones

EDIT: Please disregard, this was not a trolling attempt but a misunderstanding of mine. Only had one experience with a relative in R (which isn't the lowest club world booking class) who didn't receive a complimentary ASR.

krispy84

When did this happen? The more expensive fares have always had free seat selection.

ermis177

Firstly, QR J passengers do get lounge access depending on the fare they have booked. But I do agree it’s wrong to not include lounge access for J class passengers. BA even during ‘normal’ times will not pay for lounge access in different places around the world or kept closing down lounges with all sorts of excuses. A good example is Tegel airport. BA closed the lounge 6 months before they moved to the new airport while keep asking on average 80 euros for the J experience...! ( talking about online upgrade offer)

SonicStar817

Well that's not true...

GBOAC

I really don't see why QR are so anti premium economy. I have only flown with them twice (back in 2012) and their economy product was good, I was in a 77W and 77L, both 9 abreast, with conformtable seats. They even handed round sweets pre descent (something which I had not expreienced for years!!!). BUT since they now operate 10-abreast 777s I just don't see how they can say this is better than premium economy.
And further more, tier point opportunities for a BA customer on QR in Y are poor, and nothing like the 90 points per sector earned in PE on any other OW carrier.

Misco60

I understood that the title "world's favourite airline" was justified on the rather narrow grounds that (at that time, early 1980s) BA carried more passengers internationally than any other airline.

Virgin Atlantic famously responded with "“The world’s favourite airline. They must be on a different planet.”

lost_in_translation

They are anti-premium economy because EK are installing premium economy. Exactly the same as they are now anti-A380 because EK are planning to keep a large fleet of A380s (QR was still taking delivery of new A380s a couple of years ago!). Other than the bizarre attack on BA, the most hilarious thing about this interview is that QR is now going to be environmentally conscious. This being the same QR whose entire business model is built on encouraging passengers to take unnecessary connecting flights via the Middle East rather than flying direct, also shuttling them though an airport requiring masses of electricity to air condition it to a habitable temperature, provide desalinated water, etc. If passengers care that much about their emissions, surely they are going to take a direct flight in economy, not connect via Doha in business class...

rhysflies

His comments about premium economy are wrong, too. Premium Economy is a massive seller for all airlines - Lufthansa says it is its most profitable cabin per sq metre, I'm pretty sure WT+ is the cabin BA oversells most (easy to bump people up to Club) etc, so passengers clearly value it highly otherwise this wouldn't be the case. And now Emirates, which for decades has downplayed premium economy, says it is surprised with the demand and reception of its new premium economy cabin.

Besides which, most premium economy products do not stock the same food or drink as economy, so he's completely out of date.

DYKWIA

Their model is exactly the same as BA - hub and spoke. For the majority of people who live outside London, it's a connecting flight (LHR or DOH).