As an ex-BA employee of 30 years service I have to say I never expected for one moment that the transfer to T5 would be the triumph that BA proclaimed it would be, though I was unprepared for and shocked by the sheer magnitude of the operational and
PR disaster that unfolded.
To reach this assessment one only has to look back over BA's operational performance over the last few years or even decades. Look at its ongoing LHR departure punctuality and baggage performance and how badly it compares with competitor airlines. How many flights get cancelled as soon as there is a whiff of difficulties ? And then there is the apparently unmeasurable and erratic nature of the LHR arrival experience.
From time to time it would appear some of these problems were on the way to resolution, only for the situation to deteriorate again. What conclusion does one draw from BA's long term operational performance ? I suggest it is that the integrity of the operational programme is not high enough in BA management's mindset. They have scant regard for passengers' reasonable expectations.
My experience is that the vast majority of the workforce do their utmost to keep the show on the road even when problems are plainly the result of poor planning and inadequate resources. And the customer contact staff have to bear the brunt of passengers' dissatisfaction. Small wonder that hatred of management is so ingrained in the workforce.
There were already plenty of former customers out there with horror stories to tell of BA reliability and who said "never again". Now as a result of the T5 debacle such sentiment is not just the view of individuals but part of the conventional wisdom of the nation. Even when T5 is sorted out - and I hope it happens swiftly - BA's performance will remain under scrutiny. Operational difficulties will be perceived as part of an ongoing disregard for the needs of its customers and highlighted, whether or not the fault of the airline. BA will be looked on as an an aerial British Rail. It will be the pre-privatisation days all over again.
So what is to be done ? Restoring confidence in operational integrity at LHR must be a top priority. LHR is a difficult airport because of its general congestion and its over-allocation of slots, but operations programmes must take LHR problems more fully into account and not rely on wishful thinking that everything will go as hoped. This will require more resources both of staff and equipment and more realistic scheduling of aircraft.
All this will have a cost of course and one can say goodbye to 10% margins - but these are almost certainly dead in the water now in any case.
If BA can change its ways then it has good prospects for the future. It needs to convince the travelling public that it is reliable, that passengers can travel as booked and that they and their baggage will
arrive on time. It will only do that now on the back of demonstrated achieved performance. But if it does, it can use its
PR machine not just as a mouthpiece for mindless froth and nauseating glossovers of failure, but to announce its real success with pride. Then you have a solid base for recovery of public confidence and, eventually, financial performance.
And the chances are....? The airline should be run by people who understand the customer service ethic and who understand aviation. I am far from convinced that BA top management fall into this category. Resolve this issue and maybe the other pieces will fall into place.