For those that think that retaliation in kind down-route would be extreme, consider the following--
Retired BA captain working for a South Asian airline, passing thru customs in JED a few years ago (BA crew tag still attached to suitcase) had the whole contents dumped on the floor. He mentioned that this had happened several times as SV crews were routinely hassled at LHR.
The short-sighted attitude of BA staff will absolutely be noted and acted upon, in a very negative way toward BA crews elsewhere.