Reading these threads about the deterioration in service levels at British Airways makes me feel very sad.
It makes me sad because I am old enough to remember when the airline went out of its way to help passengers and make sure they were well looked after.
Yes there were rules and yes there were inflexible tickets but ground staff had discretion and I found that if you were nice and polite then BA ground staff would often do all in their power to help you out.
Many years ago now I booked a trip to JFK - out economy and back on Concorde. (yes I did say it was a long time ago!) It was in the days of those rectangular paper tickets and the words 'Non END/REF' had pride of place to show no changes were permitted.
As it happened the outbound Concorde never made it to New York so my return flight was obviously cancelled.
BA said I could either fly back First Class or book onto another Concorde flight at a date of my choosing.
I wanted to fly Concorde so I opted to change my return flight for one a month or so later but this left me with the problem of having to buy another ticket to fly home.
Obviously a last minute, one-way ticket, bought at JFK, just hours before I wanted to fly was going to cost me a small fortune.
The ticket agent quoted me the price, saw me turn white, checked his screen again and found that whichever flight he booked me on that evening all the prices would be about the same.
Then he did something he didn't have to do and which I have never forgotten.
He said: "I suppose it is our fault that your original flight was cancelled so let's see if I can do anything about your flight home today."
He then set to work on the keyboard, smiled, and came up with a fare which was a fraction of the earlier price.
I asked him what he had done and he told me he had calculated what the fare would have been had I booked it at the time I originally purchased my ticket.
"Can you do that?"I asked.
"I certainly can sir. Have a great flight!" he replied.
BA has my airline of choice since then but over the years the airline has become less and less likely to help out when a passenger has a problem.
Maybe the time is rapidly approaching when I check out the competition when making my long-haul travel plans.
Griff.