Article from BTNews 6 JANUARY 2020
Which? survey shock for BA and Ryanair
British Airways and Ryanair have taken two of the bottom three spots in Which? Travel’s annual airlines survey, with passengers saying they were especially disappointed by the so-called ‘extras’ they felt obliged to buy.
Ryanair passengers rated the airline one star for boarding, seat comfort, food and drink, cabin environment and customer service. Value for money received just two stars and overall customer score was only 44%.
However, Which? said, it was the BA score that might shock its passengers, with the UK flag carrier coming third from bottom of the short-haul table with a customer score of 55% – well below easyJet (65%) and other budget airlines.
BA received two-star ratings for seat comfort, food and drink, and value for money, while its long-haul experience was also mediocre, Which? said, receiving the same 55% customer score.
One of the biggest complaints about Ryanair and BA was that elements of the flight that in the past would have been included in any ticket now had to be paid for separately.
Ryanair is the only major airline that now charges for taking a cabin bag on board, Which? said, while BA no longer includes complimentary drinks and food on short-haul fares. These ‘extras’ left many passengers feeling short-changed.
OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)
All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum
Ron Lindsay, London
Have just flown Club on BA 2.5hrs within Europe. On time; excellent service with engaging smiley cabin crew and a superb lunch. I'd walk rather than fly Ryanair! In the last year have flown Business on CX, NZ, SQ, BA and Air Tahiti Nui. Best CX by a mile...worst SQ...by a mile (a 'never again' experience!). BA way behind on Longhaul (quality & service). Sadly LCC's are 'dumbing down' the entire industry!
Chris Pocock, London
BA boss Alex Cruz is one of those managers who know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. Readers might note that, when they cancelled two of my flights recently, they took care to do so 15 days prior eg one day before they would be obliged to pay compensation.
Jan Lindborg, Bilbao
As a very frequent flyer, I don't mind paying for extras (or rather not paying for extras I don't want). I would rate Ryanair low due to their obvious contempt for their customers. Cheap does not need to equal rude. I suspect badly behaved passengers have a part to play in this.
David Starkie, London
Can we really trust this 'Which?' survey? The best performing airline is Aurigny with a surprising number of customer responses relative to the big airlines! And the customer score is based partly on the food and drink service, which Aurigny do not provide on many of its island hopping flights. Yes, BA and Ryanair should be challenged but in a more intellegent way; 'Which?' are just producing a headline grabbing exercise.
Gary Hudson, Jersey
I don't fly Ryanair, as most of their routes aren't appropriate for my requirements, but I do fly BA quite a bit, and whilst I understand why the airline, under Alex Cruz, went down the route of charging for nearly all extras, I think he took it too far. Most BA frequent travellers, I believe, were happy paying that few £'s extra to have an onboard complimentary drink and snack, free seat selection (in advance - I know you can still do this free 24hrs prior), and not worry if they need to pay for a bag in the hold. They're trying to readdress some of these issues, but unfortunately they're only targetting select areas, and for BA to go up that Which. ladder they need to reintroduce many thinks, and better than before, that Cruz thought was wise to dispense of