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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.

  • Colin M says:
    9 Jul9 July 16:27

    We don’t fly enough to get a gold card or are bloggers so, like the vast majority of people, we don’t get to use the First wing for short haul flights. We do, however, fly First class on long haul.
    We recently flew Emirates First class from Sydney to LHR and BA First to Houston. Emirates we’re light years better than BA.( and cheaper).
    With BA we had to wait in a freezing cold departure area for a delayed flight and get bussed out to the plane in a totally overcrowded bus, a long way from the terminal, then, of course, we had to climb the steps to the plane with heavy carry ons. The whole plane looked tired, poor seats and IFE. Food was poor quality and service was well below First class standards. I really felt I had wasted my money.
    It took me nearly a year to get a refund from BA on another flight and I am now having problems using my companion tickets.
    I have been flying BA for nearly 50 years, firstly on business, but since I retired, mainly because of their direct flights. I now look at other airlines first.
    Service has never been a strong point with BA. The young new crew pre Covid seemed to be enthusiastic, just lacking training. The old contract crew only seemed interested in getting their free flights and we were an inconvenience.

    Everything at BA has been getting progressively worse over the years and I have now just reached the point of no return.

    • Chris says:
      9 Jul9 July 17:46

      Rob gets it free from his wife who is GGL….

      • Rob says:
        9 Jul9 July 18:02

        No media get a free Gold off BA as far as I know.

        • Colin M says:
          9 Jul9 July 20:21

          Just to clarify,I was not suggesting bloggers get free gold cards, it was that the short haul benefit mentioned in the article is only available to a very small minority of BA customers , who spend a lot of money with BA, either personally or their companies. So it’s hardly a big Olympus for BA
          I just said I’m not a blogger, but have been on flights with some and they certainly got better service than me.

          • QFFlyer says:
            9 Jul9 July 23:57

            You don’y need to spend that much money to reach Oneworld Emerald, I can assure you.

          • Rob says:
            10 Jul10 July 08:11

            My 15 year old earned Silver last year purely on miscoded Avios flights.

  • Richard M says:
    9 Jul9 July 17:32

    AC set BA up to be not as good as many competing full-service airlines, and not as cheap as the budget carriers, so the reputational damage was double.

    Ironically, of the budget airlines, Easyjet in particular has shot itself in the foot with its new baggage policy meaning BA is often much cheaper now.

  • Henry Young says:
    9 Jul9 July 17:55

    BA is a shockingly bad organization with the misfortune to recruit its workers from a nation with a shockingly bad work ethic, union problems, regular strikes, etc. Couple that with a high tax regulatory environment and a hub airport desperately in need of both expansion and modernization, and you have a recipe for an unmitigated disaster. We see the clear evidence of this time and time again. I have personally boycotted BA for the last 30 years. I still see nothing to change my mind.

    • Henry Young says:
      9 Jul9 July 21:25

      Produced by TUC, and therefore not at all biassed 😉

  • James Harper says:
    9 Jul9 July 18:00

    Cruz only continued what Walsh started. Walsh was also responsible for the appointment of Cruz and oversaw operations at BA. Cruz is to blame for the state of the airline but Walsh so, so much more.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      9 Jul9 July 18:40

      What about Keith Williams who was there for 5 years between Willie going to IAG and Alex taking on the role?.

      Alex was not Willies direct successor!

      • James Harper says:
        10 Jul10 July 21:39

        I wouldn’t defend any of them. Given the influence Walsh continued to wield I would hold him mostly responsible and of course then he delayed is IAG departure to decimate the BA crews at the outset of Covid.

  • Ecno says:
    9 Jul9 July 18:18

    I’ve found LH Business flying back from Germany really good, have never done BA but would be surprised if BA was better.

    • Paul Crimea says:
      9 Jul9 July 19:08

      I flew LH business for years in and put if FRA and MUC. Post Covid I have a different route so BA is my only real option. I always found LH Business to be a pleasure and never once had a problem. It was always professional and the food was always interesting and I always enjoyed the food. When I had to move over to BA J short haul I paid for my own flights and flew BA J return once a week. Let’s put it this way the service and food in BA J short-haul was so bad that I fly economy now just so I don’t get aggravated by the random staff lottery and the horrendous food. I know food is improving but it is too little too late. I don’t fly economy to save money and I’d never pay for economy over business on LH. BA just makes me sad. Stick with LH.

  • Paul Crimea says:
    9 Jul9 July 18:27

    Alez Cruz was there because he was a hatchet man. It is very disingenuous of BA. Still, we are talking about an airline that in my experience once per week for last 70 weeks have not once been able to board a narrow body plane from Terminal 5 without total and utter chaos, confusion and misery. I don’t think thay is just Alex’s fault. The chaos and poor staff is every bit as much Doyle’s fault. As a BAEC member I get some free food but the boarding is worse than Ryanair as at least it is just a free for all whereas BA try to organise into groups yet when you are Group 1 in a queue that is comprised of groups 1, 2 and 3 – we all know how that goes. Even if group 1 and queued early, the chaos and misery of bringing people forward to check their cabin bag is a total nonsense. Flight times are padded and BA use every minute. Just 40 mins of misery boarding every single time. I know the author thinks BA is a good airline but I disagree totally, as simeone who has been on the go for 15 yesrs constantly, I know the BAEC perks are worth very little. You can say BA is a good airline because it gives you x, y and z when x, y and z are worth £30 and the flight costs £60 more than competitors. BA is garbage.

  • yorkieflyer says:
    9 Jul9 July 18:32

    I do hope Sean Doyle reads these comments for a reality check

    • Blair Waldorf Salad says:
      9 Jul9 July 18:49

      He’s far too busy dealing with personal entreaties for upgrades on account of pet weddings, gender reveal parties and one way flights to Dignitas.

    • BA Flyer IHG Stayer says:
      9 Jul9 July 18:52

      He’s probably laughing at many of the ones with unrealistic expectations and the “I’ve not flown BA in decades but will still comment about them”

    • Rhys says:
      10 Jul10 July 09:13

      You can be assured the entire BA PR team are reading these comments.

      • Londonsteve says:
        10 Jul10 July 23:53

        I hope so. This is the best focus group of switched-on, observant frequent flyers they could possibly assemble.

  • Paul Crimea says:
    9 Jul9 July 19:18

    After reading all the comments and in particular the precious responses from authors and their peers I have to say your credibility is zero. I won’t be back on this site to have you tell experienced travellers that black is white and then get stroppy with them for pointing out you are wrong. I don’t know what incentives you are getting for warping the truth but count me out. Good luck.

    • His Holyness says:
      9 Jul9 July 19:33

      A reality check please. Rob isn’t going to write BA is all garbage when it pays the bills, neither he Rob toe the line like other card/travel sites, he’s often calling BA out. He gave up an incredibly lucrative private equity job to setup HfP. He’s got three full time staff and he wrote he was able to give them decent inflation raises and did not drop anyone during Covid despite zero income which is really commendable.
      You don’t cut off the hand that feeds you.

      • Rob says:
        9 Jul9 July 20:59

        BA is 1% of our revenue.

        • His Holyness says:
          10 Jul10 July 12:35

          Sure BA directly. But the credit cards, Amex, Barclays, it’s all linked to Avios. No BA Avios, no HfP.

    • Peter K says:
      9 Jul9 July 20:10

      @Paul Anyone who has read this blog for any length of time will know what you’ve said is nonsense 🤷🏻‍♂️

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

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