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British Airways throws Alex Cruz under a bus (again) in a Sunday Times interview

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There is a fascinating interview in The Sunday Times today with Sean Doyle, Chairman and CEO of British Airways.

We can’t show you it because it is behind a paywall (the link is here). To put it simply, all of the problems at British Airways have been dumped on ex-CEO Alex Cruz, who left the airline in October 2020.

This is, I think, very disingenuous. The lead time to get anything done in aviation is measured in years, not months.

This isn’t the first time that it has happened. I wrote a similar piece to this one back in May 2021 after an article in the Mail On Sunday.

Alex Cruz british airways

It is not true that Sean Doyle is the architect of all of the changes that are now coming through. Whilst HfP was far from being Alex Cruz’s biggest cheerleader, I personally liked him and in many ways he was simply a puppet for Willie Walsh, then Chief Executive of BA’s parent company IAG.

(Before someone points this out in the comments, I should admit that HfP did well from its critical coverage of Cruz’s early cost cutting. It got us our only mention in The Economist and drove our hat-trick of wins in the 2017 Business Travel Journalism Awards, including Editor of the Year.)

Alex Cruz was appointed to run British Airways because he was an expert at cutting costs. He founded Clickair, a low cost Spanish airline which was acquired by Vueling. Cruz was made CEO of Vueling as part of the merger because of his experience of running a low cost operation.

He was moved to British Airways to bring the same mentality to the UK carrier. He shared the mindset of Willie Walsh, the previous BA CEO who became CEO of BA’s parent IAG and to whom Cruz reported. Willie’s nickname was, of course, ‘Slasher’ Walsh because of his approach to cost reduction.

Whilst – to be clear – these words do not come as direct quotes from Doyle, the article today gives him implied credit for:

  • the new Ozwald Boateng uniforms, commissioned by Alex Cruz in 2018
  • the new Boeing 777-9X fleet, ordered by Alex Cruz in 2019 (and now delayed until at least 2026)
  • the Boeing 787 and Airbus A350 fleets, which (for the latter at least) were mainly delivered under Alex Cruz and were actually ordered whilst Willie Walsh was CEO of British Airways

There is no mention of three highly positive initiatives signed off by Cruz:

  • the introduction of Club Suite, which briefly made British Airways the only European carrier with ‘closing door’ suites in business class
  • the signing of a catering contract with Do&Co at Heathrow, the best regarded airline catering group in the world
  • the construction of the First Wing at Heathrow Terminal 5

Cruz IS blamed directly in The Sunday Times for leaving British Airways with ‘too many ageing jets’. This makes little sense, given that Cruz was in charge when the 777-9X fleet was ordered. In any event, the life cycle of any aircraft order – which can take 10 years from initial specification to final delivery – will always cut across multiple CEOs.

Doyle is given credit for persuading IAG to invest in a new British Airways IT system. However, the fact that this investment was not approved immediately after the huge BA IT outage of 2017 – it has taken FIVE YEARS from that crash to get IAG to release funds for an upgrade – makes it clear where the blame should sit.

Where Alex Cruz went wrong, arguably, was linking his reputation too closely to cost cutting. The airline was putting out regular staff announcements on what had been cut from the in-flight and airport product. Cruz was telling staff that cost cutting should be in their DNA, and that any day when budgets were not reduced was a day wasted.

In reality, Cruz’s plan was more complex:

  • invest in the premium product (Club Suite, First Wing, Do&Co catering) – not to the level that would give a Middle East carrier any sleepless nights, but certainly better than European rivals Air France KLM and Lufthansa
  • cut costs in short-haul to compete with Ryanair, easyJet, Wizz Air etc – something which was done relatively successfully. BA has retained a more civilised level of service than those carriers and arguably has a better short haul business class product than any of its major European competitors. Long haul Economy cabins were reduced in size – it is low margin business the airline was happy to lose.
Sean Doyle British Airways

The British Airways premium passenger experience can be pretty good

If anything, British Airways has failed to control the narrative about what it offers. Perhaps this was the Alex Cruz problem – associating the airline with a cost cutting mentality which didn’t always filter through to the customer proposition.

After all, anyone who ever visited both the British Airways and easyJet head offices would be left in no doubt that one of them was clearly carrying excessive overhead. Shai Weiss, CEO of Virgin Atlantic, told me recently that it took the pandemic to shake out the fat that had built up in his business, and it is now a far leaner operation.

Take my typical short haul flight as a Gold card holder. I can be dropped off outside the First Wing part of Terminal 5. With no checked luggage, I am at security literally within 60 seconds of getting out of the taxi. I am in the lounge 30 seconds after clearing security. However little I pay for my flight, I can eat and drink happily in the lounge for an hour or so.

If I fly Club Europe, I get an empty middle seat. I get (as a Gold) usually Row 1 due to the Gold block in place (or if I’m in Economy I get a blocked seat next to me unless the flight is full). The Club Europe food is pretty good these days and far better than anything Air France KLM or Lufthansa Group can deliver.

British Airways is, in many ways, a good airline. It could certainly do some things better (IT being the key problem) but the reality on a good day is far better than the perception. The impact of the Alex Cruz era may look better in 20 years time.

PS. The A380 is to get Club Suite, apparently

One interesting titbit from the article is confimation that the A380 fleet will receive Club Suite as well as the new First Class product.

There is no timeline for this. However, we know that the Boeing 787 fleet will be next. This work has also been delayed – when we last wrote about this we said that it would be started in late 2023 but we understand that it has now slipped into 2024.

Assuming that only one fleet can be upgraded at a time, we probably won’t be seeing a new-look A380 fleet until 2025.

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Category

British Airways and Avios

Comments (261)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • Travel Strong says:
    9 Jul9 July 08:30

    Surely BA’s biggest downside is it’s call centre? That is where they are truly truly awful.

    It’s customer service before and after flying that kills the BA experience for me, not the product or experience on the day.

    • The Savage Squirrel says:
      9 Jul9 July 08:46

      I think they’re fine to be honest.

      The problem is the IT, which means lots of things can’t be done online – generating loads of unnecessary call-centre calls which overload phone lines; while the staff battling the IT means those calls take far longer than they should, which makes the problem worse.

    • MT says:
      9 Jul9 July 09:09

      The call centre experience is terrible, equally if they can improve the IT it could have a knock on effect as the time it currently can tajke an agent to do a supposed simple task can be very long, so reduce the time it takes and that agent can deal with more calls in a day.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      9 Jul9 July 09:34

      I’ve always found them to be good – as long as you know what you want and can articulate it clearly.

      Most problems are with people needing help with rebooking yet haven’t even looked at what alternative flights are available first then take time chatting to their partners to see if the 10am suits and if the agent can see if there are any later flights. And all of that takes time the agent could spend with someone else.

      I’ve literally called in and said “my flight has been cancelled can you rebook me on this one instead”. Makes it much easier for the agent if you can quote chapter and verse of flight numbers etc and they’ve always been appreciative of that.

      • AJA says:
        9 Jul9 July 11:45

        My experience is the same. Never panic. Log on to the website and see what options are available and then phone the call centre (or ideally have someone on the phone in the queue while you are searching for options). Agents are usually happy to book whatever you suggest provided there’s still availability. But you only get one bite of the cherry so use it wisely.

    • Metty says:
      9 Jul9 July 10:16

      The people at the call centre are fine but IT isn’t. The Gold line call to cancel an open jaw Avios redemption took 1 hour 55 mins and that didn’t even result in speedy return of Avios, vouchers and ££. That took another week.

  • Tony says:
    9 Jul9 July 08:33

    Club Suites on the A380….great idea. But tell the crew to be quiet, stop the loud crew chat, stop the cupboard slamming, tell the crew how much I’ve paid for my seat. If Qatar can do it so can BA.

    • Mikeact says:
      9 Jul9 July 08:41

      Absolutely…

    • WaynedP says:
      9 Jul9 July 08:47

      100%

      It really isn’t rocket science.

    • JDB says:
      9 Jul9 July 08:49

      Absolutely! They also need to train their staff not to walk up and down the aisles all night without clomping, again as QR and most other airlines have done. With the loud chat, also not make the F or J galley the central staff room for that endless loud talking.

      • Catalan says:
        9 Jul9 July 11:58

        Perhaps it’s a British thing? I had the same experience on a recent night flight from JFK on Virgin. In addition to the clomping up and down the aisle the Cabin Manager felt it was a good idea to sing!

        • Alex G says:
          9 Jul9 July 12:54

          Not uniquely British. I think the staff on AA are much worse on night flights.

    • Richie says:
      9 Jul9 July 08:50

      Noise cancelling ear buds and headphones are easily available. Bespoke ear plugs are also available.

      • MT says:
        9 Jul9 July 09:05

        Available yes, but only needed on airlines who have crew that don’t understand the premium concept.. so yes I use them on BA!

      • Can2 says:
        9 Jul9 July 09:07

        Seriously ?

        • Richie says:
          9 Jul9 July 09:28

          If you’ve ever had a long haul night flight wrecked by a screaming infant, you’ll want to never risk that ever again.

          • Paul says:
            9 Jul9 July 10:57

            A screaming infant is excusable. Clumping herds of crew parading through the premium cabins is not

          • can2 says:
            9 Jul9 July 13:06

            That’d be my post infant child so I guess I’ve got immune to it. The other one, no

  • Richie says:
    9 Jul9 July 08:40

    Cruz thought Clickair was a good idea and we’re left with Vueling.
    The BA A350 configuration really is poor and has cost millions.
    I just think he got so many things wrong in business and shouldn’t be lauded.
    Great to hear about the A380s.

  • Peter says:
    9 Jul9 July 08:55

    Strange how Sean Doyle is quick to blame others rather than being professional and getting on with the job. He oversaw a dreadful Summer 2022. And even there BA were trying to blame everyone except themselves. Yes there were problems out of there control but BA happily continued to sell tickets for seats and flights they knew were very unlikely to be operated. The race to BA continues and ven their COO Jason Mahoney was forced out as he quietly escapes to bankruptcy airline SAS. A failed COO going to a failing airline. Did anybody see Sean Doyle or the COO last summer when things were going terribly wrong????? Sean Doyle should look at himself…..a very average performance.

  • Richie says:
    9 Jul9 July 09:00

    Did Sean Doyle sign off the BA Euroflyer idea? Will it ever succeed?

    • Rob says:
      9 Jul9 July 09:02

      It already has succeeded, to the extent it delivers (on paper) what mainline used to do at a lower cost. Just need to train those kids better.

      • Richie says:
        9 Jul9 July 09:44

        Youngster training may never be perfected, they’ll always be paying attention to a potential better paid opportunity and ultimately moving on fairly quickly.

      • Charles Martel says:
        9 Jul9 July 19:10

        I flew LGW-DLM in CE this week and it was by far the worst flight I’ve been on, worse than Ryanair and Jetstar. Apart from the large family allowing their kids to kick the seats ahead of them and scream all flight, and then physically threatening a couple that dared to roll their eyes at them, it took the crew two hours to even offer me a drink after an hours delayed departure. First world problems but easily my worst fours hours in the air.

  • Mouse says:
    9 Jul9 July 09:05

    Interesting the mention that First may move upstairs on the A380. We’ve been hearing about this brand new First for a while – I hope this means they might be getting ready to reveal more. Too optimistic to hope for something that competes with LH & AF?

    • Rhys says:
      10 Jul10 July 09:22

      I don’t think it will be as good as Lufthansa’s new Allegris First (which exceeds expectations and is now, arguably, one of the best F seats outside the Middle East). Let’s see.

  • AJA says:
    9 Jul9 July 09:25

    That’s funny. But as long as the maintenance budget is spent on the aircraft I am OK with signs like that. Makes one wonder though….

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      9 Jul9 July 09:41

      Context matters.

      That’s a photo of them removing the BA branding from JFK T7 following the move to T8 late last year.

      And that move is something that Alex could arguably take credit for as all the major decisions would have been taken on his watch.

      • AJA says:
        9 Jul9 July 11:28

        I did know that it was the old JFK terminal and assumed that was mid way through the sign removal. Still funny though.

  • AJ says:
    9 Jul9 July 09:42

    O/T but does anyone know what suite I am likely to get flying CW to Barbados this December?

    • Rob says:
      9 Jul9 July 09:43

      Look at the seat map. If its 4 across, all forward facing, its the suite.

      • Gordon says:
        9 Jul9 July 10:49

        If it isn’t, Keep checking, It could change as the fit out of the club suite’s continues….

    • Linda says:
      10 Jul10 July 11:46

      Husband & I flying to Barbados CW in November and praying that all B777-200 aircraft have been converted. Can’t check seat plan as tickets not been issued yet

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