Keith Williams, the new CEO of BA, has admitted that the BA brand has taken something of a hit as a result of the seemingly never ending dispute between BA and Unite.
He is quoted by the Guardian:
"One of the things we need to do is rebuild the brand image which inevitably suffers during a protracted dispute."
He is of the view that customer service did not suffer during the dispute, citing the fact that customers have not deserted BA.
Perhaps one reason why the customers have not deserted is not due to BA's punctuality record, its lost baggage record or its customer service but possibly due to the fact that on many international routes there is little choice but BA for travellers wanting to fly direct to/from London.
www.baisshite.com the latest news and views on British Airways, the world's "favourite" airline. This site contains updates on the ongoing strike action, and dispute between BA and Unite.
Showing posts with label punctuality. Show all posts
Showing posts with label punctuality. Show all posts
Monday, 6 June 2011
Monday, 3 November 2008
Smelly Passengers
The Independent published this rather interesting item today:
"British Airways staff have criticised passengers as "smelly and annoying" and condemned the opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 as a disaster.
According to comments on a Facebook page created by "London Gatwick Ground Staff", their biggest hate is travellers who put boarding passes in their mouths before handing them over at the departure gate.
One staff member criticises smelly passengers and celebrity fliers, while another vents his anger at Americans.
The postings on the social networking site, which is a closed group that only BA staff can join after being vetted by the organisers, include one by an apparent employee called "Deepa", who moans (complete with vernacular grammar and spellings): "They ask which gate with their stupid American accent – aaargggh!! Its soooo annoying!!!!" Another member of staff, named as "Suely", complains about "smelly passengers" and "snotty" celebrities.
The site also lampoons the chaotic opening of Terminal 5 (T5) in March.
It contains a link to a game in which Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, is shown struggling with the baggage system at Terminal 5 and being hit by a succession of trolleys.
More than 36,000 passengers were hit by "multiple problems" on T5's day of opening. Flights were cancelled, massive queues built up and 23,000 bags had to be sorted by hand after the long-awaited opening of the £4.3bn terminal descended into chaos.
Disillusioned BA staff have also uploaded a video of a song containing the lyrics: "You can shove this terminal up your arse."
The revelations came two weeks after 13 Virgin Atlantic staff were sacked after describing their passengers as "Chavs" on their Facebook page. BA has launched an investigation into the postings. A spokesman refused to discuss whether disciplinary action would be taken. He said: "We will be talking to the individuals concerned about their disappointing and unwise comments, which are totally unrepresentative of the vast number of hard working ground staff we employ at Gatwick."
A scathing report by MPs today chimes with some of the BA employees' views, concluding that a catalogue of blunders turned T5's opening into a "national embarrassment".
The Commons transport select committee put the blame jointly on British Airways and on the airport operator BAA, which it said should be stripped of its monopoly over airports in the South of England.
It said: "What should have been an occasion of national pride was in fact an occasion of national embarrassment. When the baggage system failed, luggage piled up to such an extent that it was transported by road to be sorted off-site. According to BA, 23,205 bags required manual sorting before being returned to their owners."
The MPs blamed the shambles on inadequate communication between BA and BAA and poor staff training by BA. Louise Ellman, the committee's chairman, said: "We were struck by how much 'hoping for the best' BAA had engaged in prior to the opening of T5.
"We are glad BAA and BA have now taken measures to improve their communications but it is deeply regrettable these steps were not taken before the opening."
Given the credit crunch, the lousy first few weeks of T5 and BA's ongoing issues wrt late/cancelled flights and lost bags I doubt that the staff will have too many passengers ("smelly" or otherwise) to worry about/be annoyed by in the future.
"British Airways staff have criticised passengers as "smelly and annoying" and condemned the opening of Heathrow's Terminal 5 as a disaster.
According to comments on a Facebook page created by "London Gatwick Ground Staff", their biggest hate is travellers who put boarding passes in their mouths before handing them over at the departure gate.
One staff member criticises smelly passengers and celebrity fliers, while another vents his anger at Americans.
The postings on the social networking site, which is a closed group that only BA staff can join after being vetted by the organisers, include one by an apparent employee called "Deepa", who moans (complete with vernacular grammar and spellings): "They ask which gate with their stupid American accent – aaargggh!! Its soooo annoying!!!!" Another member of staff, named as "Suely", complains about "smelly passengers" and "snotty" celebrities.
The site also lampoons the chaotic opening of Terminal 5 (T5) in March.
It contains a link to a game in which Willie Walsh, BA's chief executive, is shown struggling with the baggage system at Terminal 5 and being hit by a succession of trolleys.
More than 36,000 passengers were hit by "multiple problems" on T5's day of opening. Flights were cancelled, massive queues built up and 23,000 bags had to be sorted by hand after the long-awaited opening of the £4.3bn terminal descended into chaos.
Disillusioned BA staff have also uploaded a video of a song containing the lyrics: "You can shove this terminal up your arse."
The revelations came two weeks after 13 Virgin Atlantic staff were sacked after describing their passengers as "Chavs" on their Facebook page. BA has launched an investigation into the postings. A spokesman refused to discuss whether disciplinary action would be taken. He said: "We will be talking to the individuals concerned about their disappointing and unwise comments, which are totally unrepresentative of the vast number of hard working ground staff we employ at Gatwick."
A scathing report by MPs today chimes with some of the BA employees' views, concluding that a catalogue of blunders turned T5's opening into a "national embarrassment".
The Commons transport select committee put the blame jointly on British Airways and on the airport operator BAA, which it said should be stripped of its monopoly over airports in the South of England.
It said: "What should have been an occasion of national pride was in fact an occasion of national embarrassment. When the baggage system failed, luggage piled up to such an extent that it was transported by road to be sorted off-site. According to BA, 23,205 bags required manual sorting before being returned to their owners."
The MPs blamed the shambles on inadequate communication between BA and BAA and poor staff training by BA. Louise Ellman, the committee's chairman, said: "We were struck by how much 'hoping for the best' BAA had engaged in prior to the opening of T5.
"We are glad BAA and BA have now taken measures to improve their communications but it is deeply regrettable these steps were not taken before the opening."
Given the credit crunch, the lousy first few weeks of T5 and BA's ongoing issues wrt late/cancelled flights and lost bags I doubt that the staff will have too many passengers ("smelly" or otherwise) to worry about/be annoyed by in the future.
Tuesday, 6 November 2007
BA Among Worst In Europe
British Airways performed worse than any other major European airline, with more than two in five flights running late, according to figures released yesterday.
Not only did BA's punctuality figures leave it languishing alongside the Portuguese and Greek carriers, it was also among the worst airlines for losing baggage over the summer.
The latest performance league table, covering July to September, was released by the Association of European Airlines.
It was published within days of BA announcing that it had notched up a 25 per cent increase in profits for the first six months of the year.
This summer, while difficult, was the first in several years when Heathrow avoided major disruption at the height of the holiday season.
But the performance figures for this year were even worse than those for 2006, when British airports went into meltdown after the thwarting of an alleged plot to down transatlantic flights.
Only 58.8 per cent of short haul flights arrived at their destination less than 15 minutes late - nearly six per cent fewer than the same period last year.
The long-haul performance was even worse, with 45 per cent of flights reaching the terminal more than quarter of an hour after they should have done.
This figure again, was marginally worse than the previous year.
A startling number of BA flights also departed late - nearly 40 per cent in the case of short haul services and 41.3 per cent for long distance trips.
Again, this was worse than July to September last year and BA was also amongst the worst when it came to cancelling services outright.
With a cancellation rate of 1.5 per cent, only a handful of carriers - including Alitalia and Croatia Airlines - dropped more flights.
BA also was amongst the worst performers when it came to lost luggage with the airline mislaying 30 bags for every 1,000 passengers it carried.
This is the equivalent of around 10 bags on a full jumbo jet.
The only crumb of comfort for BA was that the Portuguese airline, TAP, was even worse when it came to losing luggage, mislaying 35.1 bags per 1,000 passengers.
While in many cases the lost luggage was reunited with passengers several days later, this was not always the case.
Earlier this year The Daily Telegraph disclosed that lost bags were being sold at auction.
"BA said they were putting measures in place to deal with the problem, but things do not seem to have got any better over the past six months," a spokesman for the Air Transport Users Council said yesterday.
Last night a spokesman for the airline said performance would improve when Heathrow Terminal 5 opens next March.
"These statistics have to be put into context. We operate out of one of the most congested airports in the world and the UK is the only country in Europe with restrictive hand baggage rules which put more pressure on hold baggage carried," he said.
"A security alert which closed T4 airside and landside, followed by extreme weather (floods and thunderstorms) in July, led to the cancellation of some 600 flights and a build up of baggage.
''Through this period we were also dealing with record levels of hold bags and transfer bags - at least 15 per cent up - because of the one bag hand baggage rule."
The spokesman added: "We are working hard to improve our performance and September's figures were a lot better than July and August."
Source Daily Telegraph
A 25% increase in profits coupled with joining the ranks of Europe's worst airlines, well done lads!
Not only did BA's punctuality figures leave it languishing alongside the Portuguese and Greek carriers, it was also among the worst airlines for losing baggage over the summer.
The latest performance league table, covering July to September, was released by the Association of European Airlines.
It was published within days of BA announcing that it had notched up a 25 per cent increase in profits for the first six months of the year.
This summer, while difficult, was the first in several years when Heathrow avoided major disruption at the height of the holiday season.
But the performance figures for this year were even worse than those for 2006, when British airports went into meltdown after the thwarting of an alleged plot to down transatlantic flights.
Only 58.8 per cent of short haul flights arrived at their destination less than 15 minutes late - nearly six per cent fewer than the same period last year.
The long-haul performance was even worse, with 45 per cent of flights reaching the terminal more than quarter of an hour after they should have done.
This figure again, was marginally worse than the previous year.
A startling number of BA flights also departed late - nearly 40 per cent in the case of short haul services and 41.3 per cent for long distance trips.
Again, this was worse than July to September last year and BA was also amongst the worst when it came to cancelling services outright.
With a cancellation rate of 1.5 per cent, only a handful of carriers - including Alitalia and Croatia Airlines - dropped more flights.
BA also was amongst the worst performers when it came to lost luggage with the airline mislaying 30 bags for every 1,000 passengers it carried.
This is the equivalent of around 10 bags on a full jumbo jet.
The only crumb of comfort for BA was that the Portuguese airline, TAP, was even worse when it came to losing luggage, mislaying 35.1 bags per 1,000 passengers.
While in many cases the lost luggage was reunited with passengers several days later, this was not always the case.
Earlier this year The Daily Telegraph disclosed that lost bags were being sold at auction.
"BA said they were putting measures in place to deal with the problem, but things do not seem to have got any better over the past six months," a spokesman for the Air Transport Users Council said yesterday.
Last night a spokesman for the airline said performance would improve when Heathrow Terminal 5 opens next March.
"These statistics have to be put into context. We operate out of one of the most congested airports in the world and the UK is the only country in Europe with restrictive hand baggage rules which put more pressure on hold baggage carried," he said.
"A security alert which closed T4 airside and landside, followed by extreme weather (floods and thunderstorms) in July, led to the cancellation of some 600 flights and a build up of baggage.
''Through this period we were also dealing with record levels of hold bags and transfer bags - at least 15 per cent up - because of the one bag hand baggage rule."
The spokesman added: "We are working hard to improve our performance and September's figures were a lot better than July and August."
Source Daily Telegraph
A 25% increase in profits coupled with joining the ranks of Europe's worst airlines, well done lads!
Tuesday, 23 October 2007
Spectacular Scottish Collapse
The Scotsman puts the boot into BA's reputation wrt its worsening punctuality in Scotland, calling it a "rapid and spectacular collapse".
It goes on to say that passengers would be better off flying with BMI or Easyjet, or even using the train. Then, for good measure, it castigates BA for being bottom of the league for lost baggage:
"Already among Britain's least punctual carriers, BA is being trounced by its rivals on every single route between Scotland and London. It is significantly worse than its competitors at every airport, on every route and in each direction.
A business traveller in Scotland wanting to be in a meeting in London is much more likely to arrive on time with BMI at Heathrow, EasyJet at Gatwick or ScotAirways at London City. The most reliable option of all is travelling by train, where 87.5 per cent of GNER trains between Edinburgh and London Kings Cross were on time in the first six months of this year, with a similar number for Virgin West Coast services between Glasgow and London Euston.
And even when BA passengers eventually reach their destination, they are less likely to arrive with their baggage - BA is bottom of the European league tables for lost luggage, according to data from the Air Transport Users Council.
Remember that mountain of 20,000 bags that built up at Heathrow in July?
Some of them still haven't been delivered to their owners."
Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, has even tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling on management to restore levels of service in Scotland.
When will BA realise that they neglect their customers at their peril.
It goes on to say that passengers would be better off flying with BMI or Easyjet, or even using the train. Then, for good measure, it castigates BA for being bottom of the league for lost baggage:
"Already among Britain's least punctual carriers, BA is being trounced by its rivals on every single route between Scotland and London. It is significantly worse than its competitors at every airport, on every route and in each direction.
A business traveller in Scotland wanting to be in a meeting in London is much more likely to arrive on time with BMI at Heathrow, EasyJet at Gatwick or ScotAirways at London City. The most reliable option of all is travelling by train, where 87.5 per cent of GNER trains between Edinburgh and London Kings Cross were on time in the first six months of this year, with a similar number for Virgin West Coast services between Glasgow and London Euston.
And even when BA passengers eventually reach their destination, they are less likely to arrive with their baggage - BA is bottom of the European league tables for lost luggage, according to data from the Air Transport Users Council.
Remember that mountain of 20,000 bags that built up at Heathrow in July?
Some of them still haven't been delivered to their owners."
Alistair Carmichael, Liberal Democrat MP for Orkney and Shetland, has even tabled a motion in the House of Commons calling on management to restore levels of service in Scotland.
When will BA realise that they neglect their customers at their peril.
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