Daily Mail columnist Andrew Neil brands British Airways bosses ‘numpties’ as he lambasts the airline’s ‘suicidal’ business model and ‘cheapskate service’
Andrew Neil branded British Airways bosses ‘idiots’ on Saturday night and accused them of having ‘a business model with suicide written all over it’.
Broadcaster and Daily Mail columnist Mr Neil criticized the ‘cheap skate service’, saying he would no longer fly exclusively with BA after 55 years as a BA customer.
He stated that BA ‘could not even form a regular queue’ at the departure gates, and added that it would now fly with companies such as Emirates, Qatar, Singapore and Etihad, whose ‘business and first seats are much superior’.
His attack follows a backlash from flyers over a decade of cost cutting at the airline and changes to its ‘Club’ loyalty scheme.
This month BA scrapped hot breakfasts for business class passengers on eight domestic and European routes. They now buy fruit, yoghurt and pastries.
Mr Neil, 76, said he had always coordinated ‘extensive and expensive’ travel plans ‘via London to use BA’ in X, but added: ‘These days are over. From now on, I will use whichever airline is most convenient and competitive.’
He said that on BA’s recent flights to Nice and New York, staff at the departure gate failed to summon passengers with priority boarding, and on his first-class flight to New York last week, the free Wi-Fi service did not work and he had to pay.
‘B.A. [is] now run by idiots who don’t value long-standing, big-spending loyal customers; I’ve been one of them for 55 years!’ he said. ‘They can’t even do the little things right.’
Broadcaster and Daily Mail columnist Mr Neil (pictured) says he will no longer fly BA exclusively after 55 years as a BA customer and criticizes ‘cheap skate service’
BA told Mr Neil it was ‘sorry to hear’ about his experience and said he could request a wifi refund (file image)
He said staff had lost the pride they had in working for what was once “the world’s most loved airline”.
‘Now BA is just another middling airline charging service rates marginally above cheaper budget airlines. A business model that has suicide written all over it.’
BA was criticized last year for overhauling loyalty agreements, making it more expensive to earn the coveted silver or gold status.
Mr Neil, who has lifetime gold status, said the airline’s new points structure ‘poses impossible hurdles even for frequent flyers who are regular business travelers or first-time flyers’. [class]’.
BA told Mr Neil it was ‘sorry to hear’ about his experience and said he could request a refund for the wifi.
It later said it was implementing a £7bn ‘transformation programme’, investing in ‘new seats, cabins and lounges’.
He added: ‘The coming months will see the rollout of the free Starlink wireless network across our fleet.
‘We continue to reward loyalty through the British Airways Club.
‘We know we still have a long way to go and that we can’t always get things right, and we will continue to learn from the feedback we receive from customers.’
