With flights back in the skies, BA must now repair damaged reputation

LONDON/ BERLIN: British Airways must turn its attention to repairing its brand after a weekend of chaos and criticism caused by a major IT outage that grounded flights from London’s two main airports.

Thousands were left stranded when an IT systems failure on Saturday left the airline unable to allow passengers to check in or board f lights.

The meltdown at the start of a school holiday week in Britain unleashed a wave of criticism for BA, which like other full- service airlines has been cutting costs to compete with budget carriers Ryanair and easyJet.

BA had already come under fire in recent months for charging passengers for sandwiches on shorter f lights and cutting leg room on short- haul business to help fit in more seats per plane.

Ryanair was quick to try to capitalise, using references to comedies ‘Airplane’ and ‘ Little Britain’ on social media to suggest passengers book with it instead.

Critics in the British media questioned BA’s strategy and the way it was positioning itself in a competitive market.

“How long will passengers continue to pay through the nose if they are receiving a service the cheapest budget airline would be ashamed of,” mid- market newspaper the Daily Mail wrote on Monday.

On customer review site Skytrax, BA had a score of 5/10, with many reviewers saying they feel the airline’s economy class on short-haul is now no better than a budget carrier.

By comparison, low cost carriers Ryanair and easyJet score 6/10, while Lufthansa and KLM score 7/10. — Reuters