A good airline but .... (British Airways in general)

Member Name: aex12

Product:	British Airways in general
Date:	24/03/03 (140 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good and reliable airline., Getting more competitive to low costs.

Disadvantages: Disorganise hubs., Short-haul flights similar to other airlines.

British Airways is with no doubts a great airline. Up to 5 years it was the world's best airline and service was great everywhere. We can easily say that it was the official European airline, many passengers would choose BA to reach ALL European capitals via London.

However in the past few years it has unfortunately gone down a bit due to:
_ Increased competition from trains and low cost carriers;
_ More and more airlines developping more efficient hubs than Heathrow;
_ Some strange management decisions.

In the past years there have been a lot of cuts, mainly in the short-haul routes, service and food on short flights has gone down a lot. This is partly due to low cost carriers that have made BA lose some clients and have made the management use most money to keep up long-haul services. The problem is that they seem to be cutting a lot of services in the UK which will all benefit KLM and Air France that will increase flights to destinations such as Aberdeen, Bristol etc. to their hubs to later connect to the world. Another big problem is the disorganisation of Heathrow Airport, BA is unfortunately spread in too many terminals which is something not liked by passengers, if one has a connecting flight one might has to change the terminal. Even worst if the flight is from Terminal 4 which can only be reached by bus or train unlike the other terminals. Another problem is the handling, a lot of luggage is lost which makes many times people prefer transferring from other hubs such as KLM's.

A very hard decision which will have to be made is the future of Gatwick, if I were BA I'd choose one between Gatwick and Heathrow because everything is made easier for flight connections, management etc. It is not an easy decision because if Gatwick is left another big carrier could take it over and develop it and also because of all the jobs that are there, but from the passenger's point of view it's better to only have one a
irport rather than two. A lot of other airports have had service cuts such as Birmingham where now almost all the flights are not operated by BA itself anymore but through code share agreement with Maersk Air. Scotland has been cut out as well and Cardiff has been shut down on the BA flight map, even though it's the capital of Wales.

On short-haul flights the catering is not as it used to be and this is why BA is comparable to other airlines. Many times they simply give you a sandwich and so one might ask himself why spend more for simply a sandwich and a drink, why not take the train or low cost carriers? On long-haul flights the service is unbeatable but has had cuts in economy class. The only problem that has to be faced now is competition from Virgin Atlantic which is seen as a very innovative carrier.

The staff is usually good, the good thing is that they are not machines like the ones on Singapore Airlines or Cathay Pacific, they always tend to be themselves, but sometimes you get bad staff, but you get this everywhere and so it's not a point less.

Unfotunately lately the management has thrown some money away, for example it is not understandable why they have their own staff in almost every airport they land in. This is waste of money. Paris could be an exception where there are plenty of flight every day but a place like LA that has only got 4 flights a day it is not worth it. In all airports staff speaks English and so where they have few flight they could give the service to an handing agent or another airline which would make everything cheaper.

In conclusion BA is still one of the best airlines in the world but for long-haul flights in business and first. On short-haul flights all European airlines have all got a similar service (excluding low costs) so but BA up to 5 years ago had something different, now it's not the case anymore unfortunately.

Summary: