Originally Posted by
atyourcervix73
It is disingenuous to suggest VS and BA bear a direct comparison, I'd be willing to bet that WW and RB would agree with me, as would their respective marketing departments.
Just ask your average punter who is not a card holder what they think and how they choose. They choose 95% on price and the rest on schedule. They do not choose on the BA brand over the Virgin brand, and if they did, I suspect the young (and potential industry leaders of the future) would choose the funky Virgin image over the staid BA image.
BA and VS choose their respective marketing targets carefully.
The whole of BA needs to be very aware of where their bread is buttered and be very careful about not upsetting the goose that lays the golden egg. There is no right of passage in the future based on past performance. Over the past few years, several groups in BA (including silo-modelled management) have lost sight of this basic fact - the cabin crew are just the latest group living in cloud-cuckoo land.
If you have any doubt, go seek out an employee from Sabena, the old Swissair, Eastern, Pan Am, etc.
I speak as a BA 747 Captain.