British Airways will fly high again ....... one day soon

January 02, 2003

Flying high on the new year wish list
Interviews conducted by Steve Keenan, Tony Dawe and Malcolm Ginsberg Times



WHAT do business travellers want in 2003? We spoke to some frequent fliers to find out what is top of their wish lists.

Roger Collis, author of The Survivor’s Guide to Business Travel:
I wish airlines would add more daytime flights from North America to Europe. You “waste” a day travelling but it is far less tiring: you get a good night’s sleep at home rather than spending an uncomfortable shortened night in a plane and feeling bent out of shape when you arrive.

I wish other airlines would follow the example of Lufthansa, which has inaugurated the first intercontinental business class scheduled service with a Boeing Business Jet (a modified 737-700 with go-faster stripes), configured with 48 seats at the normal business class fare, between Dusseldorf and New York.

I wish the so-called full-service carriers would abandon the pretence of having a sliding curtain in a cattle-class cabin and calling it “business class”. And I wish airlines would pay the full value of lost or damaged baggage. Compensation is derisory, being valued by weight alone (about £15 per kilo). “Comprehensive” travel insurance policies rarely cover baggage for more than $2,000 (£1,242), with a $500 limit for any single item.


Colin Adams, chief executive, British Consultants and Contractors Bureau:
More companies are insisting that staff travel economy, yet the airlines fail to recognise that these people have to work and are usually paying the full economy fare. They should be entitled to a better service than those paying the cheapest prices.

I wish airlines wouldn’t hand me a landing card when I am half asleep and my pens and passport are in the overhead locker. Why can’t they be handed out at check-in? And travel agents must become less greedy. Why is it that as an independent traveller online I can get a better room at a better rate than I can through a travel agent?

Quentin Spicer, Guernsey-based senior partner of Wedlake Bell, solicitors:
I appreciate the need for tight airport security but why is there always a shortage of staff? There are often long queues at the security check yet half the X-ray machines will not be in use.

I wish I could see more consistency in air fares between Guernsey and the rest of the UK. flybe is supposed to be a low-cost airline but it is difficult for business travellers to get a cheap flight at the time we want to travel. Then, having paid full whack, we have to fork out for coffee and biscuits. One more thing: can hotels please install adequate lighting in bedrooms and lounges for people to read and work.


Colin Chapman, writer and broadcaster, author of How the Stock Markets Work:


An expansion of premium economy is my first wish. I cannot afford the ridiculous prices charged for business class tickets, such as £3,000 return to New York, for example, but when I travel economy I am penned in with people who make it impossible for me to work. Airlines that don’t have a premium economy class should introduce one and those that have should expand them.

I wish more airlines would introduce online check-in and seat selection — I cannot understand why most US and Far East airlines have failed to follow BA’s example. The ability to go online 24 hours before a flight, check in and choose your seat is a godsend.


Keith Haynes, marketing director, P&O Travel:
We could do with a bit more clarity in communicating with clients: business travel is a very simple business made very complicated. As travel agents, we trip over each other to shout about what technology and tools we have: but what we have to offer is more good old-fashioned service.


Leo Seaton, spokesman for British Airways:
We certainly wish that 2003 is a lot kinder than last year, which was among the most difficult in aviation history. The absence of war or terrorist action, an upturn in the global economy and a strengthening of business confidence would all be high on the new year wish list.

Beyond this our wish list for 2003 would include less red tape and real progress on the transport infrastructure front. Of the runway options in the Government’s consultation paper, a third short runway at Heathrow is essential if Britain is to have an effective international airport hub. And let’s hope the Government reaches a decision about future airport capacity as soon as possible.


Keith Betton, head of corporate affairs, Abta:
I hope people have the confidence to travel the world with ease, avoiding hold-ups and bureaucracy, and knowing that if you want to be killed in a plane crash you will need to clock up 50 billion kilometres in the air. I also hope the Government will continue to recognise that air travel contributes only 2 per cent to world Co2 emissions (the UK figure is less than this), and that by paying £1 billion per year in air passenger duty, air travellers are contributing greatly to the Treasury’s purse.


Simon Evans, chief executive, Air Transport Users’ Council:
I’ve flown five times in the past six weeks and I haven’t had a problem travelling to Geneva twice, Brussels twice and Nice, all with British Airways. Everything was fine. I had only one 20-minute delay off the ramp but we arrived on time. Bags that I checked in turned up on the carousel as we arrived. After complaining about airlines all year, my wish would be for more of the same.