Originally Posted by
RJ100
A BA manager has specifically mentioned the possibility of another IAG company moving into LGW instead of BA. I doubt WW really cares what brand is there as long the money is kept within the group.
All WW cares about is lowering costs. If that means moving Level or Vueling to LGW then I’m sure he’ll do it. For the unfortunate pilots selected for redundancy the offer could be we are closing LGW, there is a job with another IAG company if want it... have they then not fulfilled their requirement to find another position?
I think of you turned that offer down you’d not be in a great position. As for the passengers I’m sure that joe public will not be bothered if the ticket price is correct whoever gets in. If it’s partnered correctly and still sold via the BA website WW and IAG will be laughing as they’ll offer a cheaper product at the same price.
Which manager would that be then? Because when the COO Jason Mahoney was directly asked this question his answer was the same as mine ie “they have problems of their own”. Willie has directly stated that he wants BA to remain at Gatwick, not IAG but BA themselves. He then had to remind himself to say “subject to consultation” a couple of times as he suddenly remembered he’d undermined his negotiating position. What’s going on is coercion tactics to strongarm changes in Ts & Cs under threat of a base closure.
Good job you’re not in charge of commercial decisions at IAG because brand awareness is very important to IAG and specifically in relation to BA. There does exist a very strong client base at Gatwick who with minimal price differential with easy will book specifically with us because it’s BA. Nobody has a clue who Vueling or Level are in the U.K. If BA totally tank versus easyJet at Gatwick then that damages the viability of their short haul network at Heathrow. They’re not likely to have forgotten that the Level experiment in Gatwick was an utter failure.