Is BA one of the few British industries that are genuinely too big to fail
Why should it be?
BA is no longer the flag carrier of the empire, although much of the management structure still seems to be from that era.
BA no longer operates the "essential services" connecting remote points of the british isles, but seems to concentrate on its international services to the detriment of the remaining UK services.
BA is no longer owned by UK plc.
BA is not exactly the biggest employer in the country
It's been said many times on various threads here that BA would be more honestly re-named as London Airways.
If all BA flights stopped tomorrow, would the world grind to a halt? No
Would UK plc grind to a halt? Likewise, no
Would the tax income from air passenger duty disappear? No.
So, in summary it's not too big to fail & if it did, it wouldn't bring the world or the country to an immediate halt.
It's only hope of a bail out is to cause secondary failure of one or more of the banks that the government has put money into.