The carrier expects to fly at full capacity on its most lucrative transatlantic flights this summer and last week returned to some of the outposts it had abandoned at the height of the pandemic: Sydney in Australia and Gatwick and City airports in London. But if Covid’s fear – if not the actual infection rate – subsides, it has become clear that BA has not yet cleared its systems of bugs. Customer service has been a recurring theme – the dismissal of thousands of staff could not help it – and it has been put to the test again in recent weeks. A series of IT failures has led the airline to suffer from apparently self-inflicted cancellations. BA has a history of computer problems. Even if Covid has overshadowed any previous nightmares, the resurgence of this particular problem will have upset investors as well as angered passengers. A pandemic is a decent excuse, but BA and IAG have had years to address these awkward technological issues. At European level, whatever the French and Germans want, they get. I think it is inevitable that BA will be forced to leave IAGMichael O’Leary, Ryanair The biggest failure, in days when such holidays were headlines, occurred five years ago, with thousands of passengers stranded in Heathrow and around the world. The response to the judgment of the then relatively new BA boss, Álex Cruz, who was criticized – more or less – as sluggish, seemed to mean the beginning of the end for the Spaniard. The current leadership has seen bigger problems, but resolving this could prove to be a headache for IAG boss Luis Galego, who once worked under Cruz in Spain. His predecessor, Willie Walsh, angrily dismissed allegations that IT outsourcing was the problem. a worker had accidentally cut off the power. With the departure of Walsh, the unfortunate engineer who unplugged in 2017 is probably no longer trembling in the toilets. Eighteen months into his tenure, Gallego, apparently less militant and obviously less common, has yet to win over industry observers. But the change at the top underscores that Spain is now officially where the IAG takes action, especially after Brexit. The IAG insists this issue has been raised in bed for some time, but prominent voices disagree. HSBC analyst Andrew Lobbenberg did not rule out the possibility that EU ownership and control rules could be revived to bite the group, although the IAG tirelessly reiterated that it had done what was necessary to satisfy regulators. . However, regulators may not be the problem. Ryanair chief executive Michael O’Leary, slyly stirring the pot last month, said state rivals Air France-KLM and Lufthansa were still “shooting for the disbandment” of IAG, adding: “At European level, independently by the French and the Germans. they want, they get. “I think it is inevitable that BA will be forced to leave the IAG.” A BA-free IAG may look like the Beatles without Lennon and McCartney, but the group’s recent discussions have been about strengthening its Madrid hub, with an agreement that keeps options open for Air Europa target. Madrid is definitely cheaper, as Gallego noted, than Heathrow, which mercilessly increased the charges. Both Heathrow and IAG have strong ties to Qatar, which owns 20% of both, and Qatar Airways has forged closer business partnerships with BA. Meanwhile, the war in Ukraine and rising fuel prices have clouded the summer resurgence: the Russian invasion has pushed IAG’s share price to its lowest level since 2020. The good news for IAG seems to be that customers defy forecasts that global uncertainty and rising cost of living would reduce demand. This summer, at least, the BA planes seem ready to be filled by Britons who really can no longer stand it and prefer to spend their fewer pounds to fly abroad rather than on crazy energy bills. Luckily, they and IAG will get there.
