Magplug
Do you really think that carrying on business as a handling agent for one of your own franchisees at one of your own main bases is a core business interest for BA?
Not a 'core' business interest but a 100% valid business interest.
In the past 20 years, I have watched the band wagon of outsourcing roll through countless companies and organisations and governments. The end result is very rarely an improvement of service to the customer. The accountants love it but you upset your staff and your customers.
As a manger, when something goes wrong, you cannot reach out and grab the the throat of the person who mucked it up - because they are not your person and getting a discipline charge through is a legal minefield. The contract is full of Service Level Agreements that, on the day can do nothing to improve things. There are all the promises that it won't happen again - and it does. The reason is simple, the chain of command is too long and has too many kinks in it.
Example: A company in the UK had difficulty delivering it's product as it was being subject to intimidation on unofficial picket lines. Whilst the Police would help, the drivers were simply refusing to drive anywhere near them. The boss summeds the transport manager to tell him to tell the drivers to drive. But the drivers had been outsourced to a UK company, who then sub-contracted to an Italian company who was the
actual employer and it took some time for the problem to be overcome.
Getting bags on and off might not be core business but it has the chance to ruin your core business faster than almost everything else. Since bag handling affects the vast majority of your customers (depending upon long or short and tiem of day etc.) then getting it right is of the greatest importance.
I speak as one who has been on the inside of outsourcing as well as the unhappy recipient on the outside. The sooner this fad passes, the better.