The world’s favourite airline? BA isn’t even Britain’s favourite

BRITISH Airways was once so confident of its reputation, it called itself ‘ the world’s favourite airline’.

But the UK’s flag-carrier has been voted among the worst providers for both long and short-haul travel.

Consumer champion Which? surveyed passengers’ experiences of flying in the past year and analysed results from over 10,000 trips.

Once among the country’s leading airlines, BA came in the bottom five for short-haul flights – below a number of low- cost carriers including EasyJet, and the bottom three for long haul.

Punctuality and cancellations were a particular issue, with 3.3 per cent of its flights cancelled at short notice, according to Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) data.

From 1983 to 2001, BA claimed it was the ‘world’s favourite airline’ in its advertising campaigns but it has since fallen out of favour.

Aviation expert Alex McWhirter told the Mail: ‘BA has had to cut back on standards in order to compete with low-cost carriers.

‘Because of the image cultivated over the years, people expect more from a national carrier like BA, but these days they’re disappointed.’

The airline suffered a major IT failure in May 2017 and again in March 2022, causing dozens of flights to be grounded. At the time, BA’s chief executive Sean Doyle apologised to staff, saying: ‘Many of our customers are rightly fed up. I know you’re also fed up and I’m as frustrated as you are.’

In the Which? survey, passengers rated airlines on seven criteria, including customer service, value for money, seat comfort and food and drink. Scores were calculated based on overall satisfaction and likelihood to recommend.

Wizz Air finished bottom for the second consecutive year, with customers complaining about delays and poor customer service.

Almost half (46 per cent) of those surveyed who flew with Wizz Air reported issues, with delays a particularly common issue. According to CAA data, 37 per cent of Wizz

Air flights were late in the last year. Around 2 per cent were delayed by more than three hours – higher than most of its rivals.

The Hungarian airline received low star ratings across the board, scoring just one star out of a possible five for customer service.

Close behind Wizz Air was Ryanair. The Irish airline scored one star for seat comfort, food and drink and customer service. In the latter category, respondents were particularly critical, with one passenger saying the airline ‘ treats customers with disdain’.

Jet2 was rated the best short haul airline for the third consecutive year. It received a customer score of 81 per cent and a full five stars for its customer service.

The survey comes as flying costs hit record highs last year and many airlines posted large profits. According to the Office for National Statistics, average airfares were as much as £713 last summer.

Which? Travel editor Rory Boland said: ‘Passengers of many airlines are sadly being shortchanged – with high rates of last minute cancellations, abysmal customer service and sneaky extra fees for luggage hiking up the final price.’

A Wizz Air spokesman said it did not consider the survey to be ‘ representative or an accurate reflection of our performance today’.

A BA spokesman said ‘like all airlines’ over the past year factors outside of its control had adversely affected customers. It apologised to customers ‘ for any disruption they’ve faced’.

A Ryanair spokesman said it has ‘industry leading punctuality’.