British Airways and the Problem of Fees, Frills and Perspective
Photo Credit: A British Airways Boeing 747 aircraft. The carrier is facing increased low-cost competition on its long-haul routes. Flickr / John Crowley
Skift Take
Alex Cruz, the Chief Executive of British Airways, is in a tough spot. For years the airline has positioned itself as a premium brand and — whatever the company says — customers don't like it when you start charging for something you used to get for free. It's probably too early to say whether the changes to short-haul meal options have been a success and doing it on long-haul flights would be a totally different proposition.
While British Airways might not be suffering as much bad publicity as some other airlines, a recent comment from its Chief Executive Alex Cruz has been jumped on as another sign that the carrier is going further downmarket.
In an interview with the London-based Sunday Times, Cruz hinted that the carrier might look to start charging for food on long-haul flights in the future.
This follows a decision to scrap free snacks and drinks on short-haul flights last year, a move that was criticized by the press and frequent fliers.
On flights within Europe, BA didn’t really have much of a choice. It is being outgunned by operators such as Ryanair, whose costs are substantially lower. To try and compete BA needed to find bits of its business to trim -- or another area from which to make money.
While Cruz and his predecessors have been battling Ryanair and EasyJet for more than a decade they could at least comfort themselves with their continued dominance on long-haul routes. Not
