British Airways has for many years pretended that it is the “World’s favourite airline” with indifferent customer service, old and frequently ugly stewardesses who think they are God’s gift to the world and whose presence on their flights should be viewed by passengers with unrelenting gratitude.
Dr Alf who has travelled more than most people will be able to see some grain of truth in this and I having been about the world a fair bit, thankfully on mostly other airlines’ flights, have seen more than enough.
BA and its CEO’s are based in London close to Heathrow for the convenience of their directors and senior managers and for years had presided over restrictive practices within their cabin crews who to this day are some of the oldest in the industry and haughty to boot.
Things have changed but others are more efficient and have moved faster with the times.
This incident with IT is not abnormal but the response was too slow and too inadequate.
BA is still prisoner to the ossified attitudes of its pre nationalised predecessor and needs to be put quietly to death by reallocating all its routes to nimbler more competitive airlines.
Its executives will doubtless find other jobs but should not be given golden goodbyes just a P45 and severance pay.