Another Reason to Avoid British Ariways

[fountainhall]

In recent years British Airways has come to resemble a low cost carrier. Now it seems it is moving to an ultra-low cost model. Last November it announced it was increasing the number of seats on its 777s - the aircraft it uses on the BKK route - from 280 to 332. So in economy you'll be 10 across rather than 9 with a further reduction in leg room. Now it has turned its attention to its short haul fleet. Next year it will make a further reduction in leg room with a seat pitch of just 29 inches. This puts in on a par with the low cost Easyjet - but below Ryanair which has a seat pitch of 30 inches.

All BA would say is that this will keep fares low. Complimentary catering on all BA flights has been reduced - to zero on short haul routes. Breakfast on the last long haul economy flight I took from Chicago to London less than 2 years ago was one small slab of hard cake. Even that has disappeared. Not surprisingly the airline has been falling down the Skytrax rankings with reviews headed "The world's biggest rip off", "Poor quality budget airline", "Worst airline customer product" and "Hopelessly inadequate product."

http://www.bbc.com/news/business-39184179

[goji]

I also reckon the risk of strikes is higher with European flag carriers than with many of the Asian airlines. I'm not having my holidays disrupted by militant crews.

[gerefan2]

Now I know I was totally justified in putting them at the top of my No Fly List after they ripped me off for £140 to prebook a seat in Business.

[goji]

Top of your no fly list is a little severe.
I reserve that position for airlines prone to crashing, so ALL Russian Airlines, Air France, Air Malaysia plus anything from a dodgy country.

After that, BA are very much on the second tier of the non-preferred list.

[fountainhall]

Top of your no fly list is a little severe.
I reserve that position for airlines prone to crashing, so ALL Russian Airlines, Air France, Air Malaysia plus anything from a dodgy country.

That's a pretty wide generalisation. Do you have a time period - does this cover all crashes? If not then THAI will certainly be on your list, as will Bangkok Airways, American Airlines, United, Delta, Air New Zealand, Swiss (under its predecessor Swissair), Lufthansa, KLM, SAS, Turkish, Air Asia, Japan Airlines, Asiana, Korean and Singapore Airlines. SIA has had 2 crashes in the last 20 years including the frightful 744 crash at Taipei in 2000 during typhoon rains when the pilot made an error by attempting to take off from a closed runway clearly marked with large red Xs at its entry rather than the advised second runway. The first runway was under repair and had construction equipment half way down! Half the passengers and crew were killed as the aircraft broke into several parts and fire engulfed the central section.

Ironically AirlineRatings.com 2017 has Air New Zealand, Singapore, Japan, Lufthansa, Scandinavian, Swiss, KLM and United as amongst the world's 20 safest airlines!

[gerefan2]

Top of your no fly list is a little severe.
I reserve that position for airlines prone to crashing, so ALL Russian Airlines, Air France, Air Malaysia plus anything from a dodgy country.

After that, BA are very much on the second tier of the non-preferred list.

The fact is that you will, in all probability, NOT be killed if you fly with any of those Airlines.

You WILL, however, DEFINITELY see poor service, extortionate charges, fly in old aircraft, eat lousy food, and pay higher than average fares if you decide to fly B.A.!

[Nirish guy]

You WILL, however, DEFINITELY see poor service, extortionate charges, fly in old aircraft, eat lousy food, and pay higher than average fares if you decide to fly B.A.!

And yet STILL their snotty flight attendants will look down their nose at you and almost expect YOU to feel like you're the lucky one for being given the pleasure of flying BA don't cha know ! I wonder has no one actually told the staff - "actually your airline is totally SHIT now so get off your high horse" - although I'm guessing they do actually know and are just trained to be holding whatever (long) past glories of service they USED to be known for.

[scottish-guy]

Isn't it a fact that BA cabin crew (certainly the ones on old contracts) are by a very large margin the highest paid cabin crew in the industry, and wasn't there fairly recently a long series of strikes to maintain that position?

That might at least partially explain why economies are being made in other areas?

I'm flying with Vietnam Airlines in the next 2 or 3 weeks (non-stop from LHR) as Emirates are really taking the piss now at £800 return with next to no frequent flier miles and no pre-booked seating unless you pay an extra £80

The cost was £509 from the booking sites but I paid £550 to book direct as with everything that has gone wrong on my last few trips I've found that when you have a problem airlines nowadays don't seem to want to know unless you booked direct

[pennyboy]

I know it's a long time to bear a grudge but the last time I flew with BA was economy Washington to London in 1995 and vowed to never fly with them again. I dared to ask for a drink as the food was being served and was told that people just wanted a meal then sleep. I persevered and eventually I had a miniature whisky literally thrown at me from the aisle to my window seat.

[goji]

I know it's a long time to bear a grudge but the last time I flew with BA was economy Washington to London in 1995

I've never flown BA for my own flights.
Over about 25 years, I've used them about 5 times for business when there has been no reasonable alternative (e.g. alternatives are fully booked or it is Aeroflot). The 3 significant offences in those 5 trips include forgetting my special meal (both ways!), cancelling one flight & being so late on another that although I caught the connecting flight, my checked in luggage did not.

They are to be avoided.

As for bearing a grudge, my father started boycotting one local car dealer & petrol retailer in about 1960. He's never been back. I've never been there.