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BA news: new Bridgerton-inspired safety video, big aircraft order incoming?

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British Airways news in brief:

New Bridgerton-inspired safety video launched

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man British airline in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife new safety video.

British Airways is riding a wave of enthusiasm – despite lukewarm reviews for season three – for Netflix period drama Bridgerton by unveiling its own Regency-inspired safety video.

Originally due in May, the launch was postponed following the Sinagapore Airlines turbulence incident which resulted in the death of a passenger. It was (correctly) felt that an unveiling a jaunty new safety video might not strike the right tone.

The new video ditches the celebrities and features a cast of 40 British Airways staff in period clothing being interrupted by crew. You can watch it below or, if reading on email, here.

The costumes and locations make it feel far more polished than recent British Airways safety videos.

The new video will roll out to the long haul fleet next week.

Will British Airways make another big aircraft order?

An interesting press release dropped into our inbox on Monday. Issued by engine manufacturer GE, it said that British Airways had selected the GEnx engines to power the top-up order of six new Boeing 787-10 Dreamliners announced last year.

According to GE, the GEnx engine “provides a 1.4 percent fuel burn savings for the typical 787 mission compared to its competition.”

Whilst we wouldn’t normally comment on engine choices, the order is interesting because the current BA Dreamliner fleet uses Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines.

Those engines encountered durability issues, requiring more frequent checks and initially grounding a sizeable percentage of the Dreamliner fleet globally – one of the issues that led to the demise of Norwegian which had gambled on all ‘all Dreamliner’ long haul fleet.

Whilst Rolls-Royce has been rolling out fixes for these problems over the last few years, British Airways has clearly had enough.

Yet however unhappy you may be with your engine supplier, does it really make sense to jump ship for an aircraft order of just six new planes? After all, it would require British Airways to keep spares on hand for a tiny subfleet, increasing the cost and complexity of its operation. Simply buying one complete spare engine would cost $20 million at list price.

It would make much more sense if British Airways was on the cusp of ordering another batch of Dreamliners which would also use these GE engines. There is talk in the market of a major British Airways aircraft order, so let’s see what turns up.

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Comments (67)

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

  • G says:
    24 Jul24 July 03:42

    British Airways, used to be a Brigderton, now a Featherington.

  • Alba says:
    24 Jul24 July 04:01

    Better than Chanbuddy-G atleast!

  • Amy C says:
    24 Jul24 July 04:18

    Wow, that video felt long. Enjoyed it at first but then Zzzz, also think most of my focus went to the location, costumes, acting, box ticking etc than the important details.

    • John says:
      24 Jul24 July 04:45

      I would agree with this. It just felt like the bit between the information added up into too much extra run time.

    • Lumma says:
      24 Jul24 July 04:56

      Airlines often cut them back a bit for the actual on-board videos from what they post on YouTube

      • Dubious says:
        24 Jul24 July 09:24

        Glad to know they have used real staff as part of this, but I hope the video they use onboard puts more time on the key safety items, rather than cut away. e.g. when they close the lid of the laptop the screen immediately cuts away before you have a chance to really absorb the key instruction. I admit they do spend a bit longer on the seat belt and life jacket though.

        Otherwise it does not seem to offer much in terms of *visual* instruction. It could just as easily be an audio-only safety briefing.

        Good effort for the style they have gone with, but personally I prefer documentaries over drama.

      • RussellH says:
        24 Jul24 July 09:41

        Are you telling me that airlines put their safety videos on YouTube?
        Really??
        Have they not got anything better to do???
        I just cannot imagine why anyone would want to spend 1s of their time watching one of these! I would rather do the washing up.

        • Lumma says:
          24 Jul24 July 12:31

          There’s a qantas one on YouTube which is almost 10 minutes long

  • riku says:
    24 Jul24 July 04:21

    >> issues that led to the demise of Norwegian
    Norwegian is very much still alive, I flew with them last week from Sofia. There are eight routes from Gatwick alone.

    • John says:
      24 Jul24 July 04:44

      Current Norwegian is an absolute shadow of itself. After having gone bust having to be turned over to creditors and ditching the long haul plane that now fly for Norse.

    • Rob says:
      24 Jul24 July 07:02

      In name only.

      • Callum says:
        24 Jul24 July 07:20

        How is it “in name only”? Granted it’s gone through restructuring, but it’s the same company and still operates a significant fleet.

        It’s fair to say that it led to the demise of Norwegian long-haul and had a big impact on the whole airline (you could blame Covid, but if they were in a stronger condition before the pandemic it would have faired much better), but Norwegian is very much alive (and growing/profitable).

  • TimM says:
    24 Jul24 July 05:56

    The preface in all aircraft safety briefings is that you must pay attention because ‘this aircraft may differ’ from all the previous ones. However all safety briefings contain exactly the same information regardless. I wish they would cover any differences in the first few seconds.

    Never having seen Bridgerton, this video has put me off it. I much preferred Peter Jackson’s safety video for Air New Zealand:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qOw44VFNk8Y

    • Rhys says:
      24 Jul24 July 08:59

      Have you never watched a single period drama, Tim?

      • RussellH says:
        24 Jul24 July 09:43

        Watched many period dramas, but not Bridgerton – we do not have access to it.
        But from all the reviews that I have read, I have no interest anyway.

      • TimM says:
        24 Jul24 July 12:44

        Yes, Rhys, many, but I won’t pay a subscription fee to watch them though.

  • Robert Day says:
    24 Jul24 July 06:58

    Big mistake not specing RR!!!!
    and the bulk of any new aircraft order SHOULD go to AirBus! not Boeing, their products SUCK nower days, I personally will not fly the 737 Max and if I have a choice any newer Boeing product.

    • jjoohhnn says:
      24 Jul24 July 07:31

      RR pricing is reportedly crazy and they are not discounting. (Perhaps to try and recoup compensation paid on these engines!) Maybe they just went with who would give them the better pricing.

      • Rob says:
        24 Jul24 July 08:50

        I sat next to Qatar’s Chief Technical Officer at lunch yesterday and he was very scathing about the RR 787 engines which are still problematic. Key issue is ‘time on wing’ which is how many hours they can fly before they need to be swapped over and serviced – the GE one vastly outperforms here, plus is more fuel efficient and more reliable in general. Still doesn’t explain why BA changed its mind for 6 aircraft though.

      • Musti says:
        24 Jul24 July 08:50

        I heard the same from a good mate at BA. RR started being ridiculous with pricing for engine monitoring and maintenance plan. That’s how the new CEO wants to do it. They do reckon it’ll get sorted eventually, but I’m told that’s the reason the next 6 787-10 deliveries will have GE engines.

    • @mkcol says:
      24 Jul24 July 08:38

      Is this a parody?

    • Bernard says:
      24 Jul24 July 16:21

      Price and performance.
      RR offer neither at present.

  • Ed says:
    24 Jul24 July 06:58

    I thought the video was really good actually – a mix of attractive tourist board type locations and scenery with some very British humour (the teeth reveal at the end was a nice nod to what America thinks of us!)

    • Peter K says:
      24 Jul24 July 07:19

      I agree. It was a bit long, but it was entertaining and done well.

    • John says:
      24 Jul24 July 07:40

      But how effective is it at getting passengers to act appropriately in an emergency?

  • Mark says:
    24 Jul24 July 07:41

    Good summary on the BA long haul aircraft order. Electing for GE on the latest six 787s is a blow for RR and one wonders if RR thought BA would not select any other option and wouldn’t move on price? As you say it certainly adds complexity and extra cost for BA so one assumes the price was very attractive!

    Many commentators are critical of the 787-10 as an option for BA to replace 777-200s but in premium heavy layouts it’s a great fit as you can get four club suites per row but only 9 economy seats but a 787-10 is 8F 48J 35P 165Y compared to Heathrow 777-200 with 8F 49J 40P 138Y so a pretty good replacement. Most criticism comes from range with a 787-10
    Not able to do S America or Far East but provided BA have other 787s and A350s is that N issue considering the vast majority of routes are ok?

    Replacing at Gatwick 777 BA would have a slight impact on economy seats probably fitting in something like 32J 49P 209J rather than 32/48/252 on a 777.

    Whatever they decide unless they act quickly Do and Co will be baking 30th birthday cakes for quite a few 777s.

    • Andrew says:
      24 Jul24 July 11:44

      BA has a serious problem with TATL economy capacity post 747 retirement, whether on the 777-300 they’re largely sending instead, or the 787-10 vs the 777-200 here.

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

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