Yellow Pen, I agree with you that BA have nothing to apologise for and you list many achievements. But ...
Why did they not trumpet their recent achievements and overcoming of problems in the ad - rather than say that the good ol' chaps did a dashed fine job in the 20th century? The ad is full of bombast and history as they wish it to be told.
Some of us remember previous strikes that were not well handled - the catering workers strike anyone?
Just in case you think I'm being mean and looking at events too far in the past, consider that I stopped using BA as my main long haul carrier following Dirty Tricks, which started in 1993. My action will have cost BA (probably) less than 1 seconds worth of fuel on their global fleet on any day - if that. But how many people changed away from BA? Look up Wikipedia and then VS, then see that it cost BA more than £3.5 million in compensation.
for the record (again). I have never worked for ANY airline or airport and have no expectation of doing so.