Skift Forum Europe: British Airways CEO on Remaking an Iconic Company

For much of Alex Cruz's first two years as British Airways CEO, he was among the more criticized public figures in the United Kingdom. Cruz joined in 2016 from Vueling, a Spanish low-cost-carrier, with a mandate to bring more discipline and innovation to British Airways, which struggled to compete against discount carriers in Europe and across the Atlantic. British Airways has more loyal customers than most airlines, and some feared he would gut what made the 100-year-old carrier special. When he began making changes, such as reducing legroom in coach on narrow-body aircraft and removing free food on short-haul flights, the airline's customers complained. "They obliterated their reputation very quickly," blogger Gary Leff wrote in 2017. Making it worse, British Airways suffered through technological issues, including a massive 2017 system outage the airline blamed on a contractor. Cruz told travelers he had a plan. He not only wanted to make British Airways more competitive in Europe, but also sought to make it more of a premium airline for longer flights. In September, the airline said it would invest 6.5 billion pounds ($8.62 billion U.S.) adding new aircraft and improving business class, first class, lounges, WiFi, and adding other amenities. Public sentiment may be turning. In 2018, British Airways said its customer satisfaction scores, measured by net promoter scores, increased 10 percent, year-over-year. Profits are up, too. According to its parent company, International Airlines Group, or IAG, British Airways produced 1.95 billion euros in operating profit last year ($2.2 billion U.S), up roughly 200 million euros ($226 million), year-over-year. Still, Cruz said he knows he has more work ahead. More often than he may like, he hears from travelers who tell him what B