I worked for Ansett in the 90's.
I won awards for my service level, (this point is relevant, bear with me)and had no intention of leaving what was a cross between an airline and the civil service, as people felt they were owed a job for life. Customer service levels in general were quite poor, people were agitated if they could not leave at 5 on the dot.
If a customer rang in at 4.57pm the phone was not answered as it might mean they were delayed leaving on time.
Staff travel was ridiculous, I was on AD90 at the end but some people were on AD97.5.
I tried to get staff to park their cars on the street instea dof in the freight terminal itself, where freight was stored for custom spurposes, but the quirk continued. People did not care, it was a GUARANTEED job. And it had kudos, if yous aid you worked for Ansett people knew you were OK.
Money was increasingly tight at Level 23 swanston street melbourne, and the reputation dropped off compared to the established QF and the new upstart cheaper carriers. Nothing changed in attitude, as Ansett was secure, surely.
There were 2 reasons it fell over,
1/ safety concerns over 767's which meant its market share dropped and future ticket sales fell off, hitting cash flow.
2/ Terms and conditions demanded were agreed and sent the airline over the edge. I was given a 9day fortnight, instead of my usual 10 days, backdated for YEARS.
I refused to accept it as I would have had 6 months leave. When I resigned soon after seeing thew writing on the wall I got a huge payout, which the airline could not afford.
I left my supoerannuatioj in stupidly and it was all lost. Every penny, down the administartors black hole.
So with fewer customers, less forward bookings and a reputation for increasingly having industrial trouble Ansett fell over as the public stopped purchasing tickets.
I see similarities in England, and having lived in England most of my life I can assure you that the same pigheadedness seems prevalent there as there was in my office.
There was no warning Ansett just did the sums and it was shut on the spot. never to fly again. I think BA may have to close the same way, although unlike Ansett I think it may rise again in another guise with Iberia, but what do I know.
Lots of Ansett staff tried to join Virgin and other carriers, but these carriers found that debugging them after so many years of lousy service levels meant getting new staff without fixed prejudices was in general preferred.