Hunterboy
OK, yes, it's all very unfair. But much of what goes wrong for BA at LHR and elsewhere cannot be blamed on the British way, except to the extent that BA staff operate in the British way.
with their brand new state of the art terminals.
Hmmm......I was under the impression that T5 is supposed to be exactly that.
Most of the complaints in this thread stem from incompetence and/or simple lack of any sense of urgency to do things as well as they can be done instead of just adequately.
Failure to meet an aircraft on a remote stand with the steps and transport, at the instant the brakes go on, is INEXCUSABLE. Failure to organise the right catering at the right time ditto. Other airlines and handlers at LHR get it right; why can't BA?
The problem with the senior manager is one that BA has failed to put right for the 40 years I have known the company, worked for it, and handled it at several long haul route airports. As a contracted handling agent, I once had to forcefully request a senior BA manager to give up a first class seat for an overbooked full fare passenger, and go, heaven forbid, into economy. My report about his attitude and behaviour arrived simultaneously with his about my lack of respect for his position and status. I still treasure the formal complaint from BA about my action; "The correct procedure would have been to ask the passenger to downgrade with a refund in the form of MCOs and if he refused to offload him and rebook on the next available flight, with accommodation at BA expense".
Ancient customs die hard in BA, and that is its main problem.