The BA Executive Club is undergoing the biggest test since it was introduced back in 1985.
Will customer stay loyal after a series of changes to the service which many flyers see as negative and detracting from the service proposition?
For Gold Card holders, gone are the days when you were routinely offered a quality daily newspaper, gone to is the complimentary food and drinks when flying short haul economy. The seats have shrunk, the leg room has been reduced and, we are told, that soon the wardrobe for hanging coats/jackets will disappear.
The recent introduction of M&S food for sale in economy on short haul flights generated much negative feedback from BA customers.
Once the worlds favourite airline or at least that’s what they boasted, now an imitator of the low-cost operators.
Most reasonable customers understand the need for airlines to remain profitable, to do this there must be change. However, whilst the BA proposition is eroding, it remains with a premium price, but for how long.
BA are tight lipped when it comes to sharing information regarding how well the Executive Club operates. Whilst long haul passengers have yet to get the ‘low-cost’ treatment, we presume that the Executive Club is still pulling in the plaudits from customers that are predominantly travelling long haul. But spare a thought for the medium/short haul customers. The difference these days between Business Class and Economy is fast becoming alarmingly trivial. In fact, the most significant difference is the free food. When comparing a low-cost operator with BA economy on the same route the price difference can be as much as £200-£300 – is the food worth that much? And so, it’s the Executive Club that takes the strain. The question is, for how much longer will this work for BA? Loyalty schemes will not save an organisation with either a bad proposition or bad service. This reminds us of an expression from one of the US elections campaigns; “You can put lip stick on a pig but at the end of the day it’s still a pig!”