I can remember BD for long enough to remember when LHR-MME was introduced as the first service into LHR. Over the years I watched the rise of what was a good company basing its offering on a solid structure of routes into LHR The routes operated seven days a week and service standards on all fronts were high. Through all of those years, I've been a regular customer of LH which also operates a solid structure of routes reliably seven days a week.
I'm not sure when BD started to go wrong but it certainly accelerated out of all control in the last 3-4 years when it was unclear what the offering was and the route structure was piecemeal and unreliable. Demoralised staff have in the main stopped offering the level of service BD was noted for and I don't blame them. I doubt I would want to turn up for work in the mornings.
I don't know where BD is going but some of the routes now being offered in partnership with LH - TXL and MXP and today's announcement about LX - GVA give me hope that the European network may be a priority again. I do hope so. Reestablishing a presence on some existing routes with proper C & Y service e.g. AMS instead of offering a frequency that is useless for business and concentrating on some routes that challenge BA particularly to Spain in the wake of the IB tie up may also make sense.
BD must start to offer something customers want to buy though and start doing things like interlining bags again. It will never be possible to compete with the likes of FR on price so they must offer a high standard of service to customers instead. If LX could recover from where they were then why should BD not - but in part this is up to the staff working day by day - start selling your company as great again and people like me will begin to see a difference!
Last, isnt' it time for a rebrand, the current one is a disaster which would be best buried and forgotten as it would seem to be associated with failure rather than success. All over the world, I still hear of British Midland and many Star Alliance signs still have it on. It means something rather than three meaningless letters. Failing the want to be British Midland, there's always Lufthansa Britannia!