As British Airways announces a £7 billion overhaul in a bid to regain the title of ‘world’s favorite airline’ from Middle Eastern rivals after years of decline, travel editor MARK PALMER reveals 25 things it could do right now do to improve
1 Take passengers and luggage to the same airport at the same time. And do your very best to help if this doesn’t happen.
2 Hire sensible middle-aged women with a sense of humor as cabin crew instead of Love Island wannabes. (Who would you rather come to your aid in an emergency?)
3 Ban anyone who continues to shout into his or her phone even when the seat belt sign is on and the plane is ready for takeoff.
4 Restore the ‘basics and brilliant’ service mantra, which epitomized their attention to detail from top to bottom, but which was shelved a few years ago.
5 Offer decent, hearty food on short-haul flights to show that you’re different from lowly airlines.
British Airways has embarked on a major overhaul worth £7 billion in a bid to stay ahead of the competition and reclaim its claim as ‘the world’s favorite airline’
Mark Palmer: ‘Hire sensible middle-aged women with a sense of humor as cabin crew instead of Love Island wannabes’
Bosses have identified more than 600 areas where it needs improvement after years of decline and a series of mass cancellations due to IT failures
Executives have drawn up plans for a total overhaul of the airline over the next three years, which will cost £7 billion to implement.
6 Pay for decent slots at airports so passengers never have to take a bus from the gate to the plane.
7 Bring newspapers to the business lounges and offer a choice of newspapers on board.
8 Get real people to answer customer service lines in ten minutes. Always.
9 Let the CEO travel in the back of the plane like us – incognito – so he can understand what it’s really like.
10 Give us more than one ice cube in a gin and tonic.
11 Stop canceling flights at short notice – and if it happens, hold someone accountable. And make the process of getting a refund easier.
12 The BA app is a disaster and often doesn’t work at all outside the UK. Fix this and hire a tech genius to make the Stone Age website the fastest and most passenger-friendly in the world.
13 Let food and wine experts, instead of accountants, create the menus.
14 Extend the holiday season so we can fly to sunny European hotspots in late autumn.
15 If people can be sent to the moon, it should also be possible to make a decent cup of coffee on board.
16 Remind the crew that passengers pay more to fly with BA – and therefore expect more from them.
17 Offer standard Tabasco and Worcestershire sauce if a passenger asks for a Bloody Mary.
18 Get started repairing shabby chairs or, better yet, install 21st century chairs.
19 Stop taking away hard-earned frequent flyer points without warning and make it easier to use Avios points on flights passengers actually want to take.
Mark Palmer: ‘Bring back the ‘world’s favorite airline’ advert so we can all celebrate what BA has achieved’
20 If you’re traveling in business class, it should be possible to grab a quick bite to eat shortly after takeoff for those who want to curl up and sleep. At this point it’s quite a performance, lasting over an hour.
21 Lead on innovation instead of always lagging behind other airlines, especially those in the Middle East.
22 Politely ask passengers not to get up and retrieve their bags from the overhead lockers until it is their turn. This worked well during the pandemic.
23 Bring back sleeping suits in business class.
24 Bring back the ‘world’s favorite airline’ ad so we can all celebrate what BA has achieved.
25 Above all, strive to make flying glamorous and fun.