Is British Airways finally turning around after its £7bn failure?

In December 2024, British Airways announced a significant update to its loyalty programme, set to take effect on April 1, 2025. This overhaul will increase the number of points necessary for members to achieve each loyalty status tier, reflecting a shift towards rewarding spending rather than distance flown. The airline's new approach, which also rebrands the programme from British Airways Executive Club to British Airways Club, aims to better align with changing travel habits and customer feedback. Colm Lacy, the airline's Chief Commercial Officer, emphasized that these changes represent ongoing investment in customer loyalty. The new programme structure is anticipated to make it considerably more challenging for average travelers, especially those who are leisure-focused or flying economy, to attain higher status tiers like gold, as it appears British Airways is now focusing more on attracting business travelers. Critics argue that this signals a departure from catering to the leisure market, with industry experts like Rob Burgess suggesting that achieving silver status will be a substantial effort for regular economy passengers. Over recent years, British Airways has faced significant challenges, including public complaints regarding service quality, disruptions due to IT problems, and economic pressures hand-in-hand with the COVID-19 pandemic. Despite past controversies, including significant cutbacks and a tarnished reputation, analysts have noted improvements in service and customer satisfaction slowly emerging from BA’s substantial turnaround plan, initially introduced over a year ago. City analysts and industry insiders now see signs that British Airways is improving, attributing changes in management strategies to the airline's progress. Moreover, British Airways has been bulking up its workforce at Heathrow by hiring additional staff to improve operational resilience during disruptions. Although this effort reflects an acknowledgment of past troubles, data analysis shows that while BA has begun to reduce cancellation rates and improve punctuality, it continues to encounter challenges due to external factors like weather and air traffic control issues. As the airline prepares for this new structure in its loyalty programme, the goal is to enhance the travel experience and competitively position itself in the marketplace while addressing its historical struggles with customer satisfaction and reliability.