Roots hailing from 1953's BOAC (Britsh Overseas Airways Corporation) and BEA ( British European Airways ), British airways (BA) has a substantial credit and richness to it aviation history !
Though created in 1974 , BA's predecessors has been among the founding pillars of modern aviation , but current state of British Airways could not satisfy the Qatar Airways Group CEO.
Akbar al-Baker, the tough speaking GCEO of Qatar Airways, during an online interview with UK publication The Sunday Times termed British Airways a “two out of ten” airline. He also compared Britsh Airways with a low-cost airline.
The Qatar Airways Boss does not see British Airways is living upto its slogan “To fly, to serve” by selling inflight food , while Qatar Airways is making a point by serving food , and does not sell them onboard !
For his own carrier (Qatar Airways) , the GCEO says, “We wanted an airline that doesn’t sell food but serves food,” and says he never expected British Airways to become “a low-cost carrier.”
Al- baker also says, he never expected British Airways to become a low cost airline, that has lost its glitter. However, he was optimistic about BA's new CEO Sean Doyle to “get the glitter back.”
The Claim seems to be out of sync as major Airline rating agencies still have faith on British Airways. APEX (Airline Passenger Experience Association) and Sky Trax rate British airways Four Star (out of five stars).
Another part of his interview accused Dubai of becoming a Covid-19 superspreader and criticized rival Emirates as a gas-guzzling dinosaur (read as A380 aircrafts) ; said any airline that offers premium economy is ripping off its customers.
He also demanded $5 billion (£3.6 billion) in compensation from Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Egypt for their “illegal” economic blockade of his country, which ended in January.
