One thing that is doing LGW no favours at all is our beloved franchise partner GB Airways.
Pax have a BA ticket and ride on a BA liveried aircraft with a BA flight prefix. They believe the experience is BA.
The serviceability of their fleet is shaky at best and the poor machines are worked to death trying to maintain near impossible scheduling.
Who gets the blame? Pax are not interested in the franchise, they want to (and do) shout at BA for the 5 or 6 hour delay to a 2 hour flight. They're not interested that there is no other craft available "an airline the size of BA should have a standby aircraft" simplistic view of course, but to the layman, valid.
The GB employees do a fantastic job and I sympathise, but they aren't here getting their faces chewed off by some of the foulest pax ever to board an aircraft.
It's been a very long summer and the BA girls and boys are beginning to get a little fed up with another carrier's failings being the reason for pax "never flying on f****** BA again" and having idiots swinging punches (really) at the poor guy that has to tell them their flight is delayed.
The future? Even more routes operated by GB Airways?
This situation ties up BA staff that should be dealing with BA flights, and woe betide BA if they don't board a GB flight within the SLA.... don't worry about the BA scheduled service, you must board that delayed GB flight .... BA has become a handling agent for BA flight numbers to the detriment of the BA product.
Steps down from soap box and apologises to any sensitive GB Airways members.