The Art of Flying with British Airways

Outside BA's Headquarters

Flying has become one of those unavoidable things in life. A couple of generations ago, it used to be perceived as a thrilling adventure into the skies, but today it could seem mundane with the hassle of having to wait in long cues to get security checked, delays to one's flight, and being trapped in a small seat for many hours. Today, during my second day of Business Immersion Week, I had the opportunity to see how a company like British Airways manages everything from its intricate flight and cargo operations to its customer relations and brand image.

Walking down BA's "Street"

At 7:45am, we boarded a coach to British Airways' headquarters near Heathrow Airport. Similar to the BBC's Media City, BA's HQ was another gigantic glass and steel structure that sprawled a huge compound. It amazed me how London's corporations created their own self-sustaining eco-systems that incorporated all of their operations under one roof. As we walked through the building's "Street" (what the employees call what seemed like a mile-long path that runs through their building), we say toys and structures meant to inspire BA's employees.

The wheels of a BA jet and a model of the extinct Concorde airplane

Our sessions for the day covered topics ranging from BA's revenue management operations, marketing and customer experience, to the airline industry's mergers and acquisitions. Although I could ramble on about everything that was presented to us today, I'll focus on one notion that particularly interested me about BA, i.e. the company's mission to position itself as its gateway to "British culture." With the 2012 London Olympics around the corner, BA wanted to make a leap ahead of its competition and capitalise on the world's largest sporting event. BA's Marketing Director admitted that BA had fallen behind competition, such as Emirates, Etihad, and Qatar Airways. To make a come back, BA wanted to leverage its "British" identity to make a come back.

So what is "British"? BA wanted to implant the notions of "cutting-edge design, fashionable style, superior quality, long heritage, etc..." amongst the other positive traits of British that come to the mind of its customers when they think of BA. To associate itself with positive British characteristics, BA would have to partner with big British brand names, such as Burberry, Paul Smith, etc... Also, it could utilise brand ambassadors, such as David Beckham to represent the company. In marketing, when customers associate BA's brand with positive aspects of British culture, they will be more inclined to buy a BA flight ticket because they'll in essence also be buying the "British experience" that goes along with that flight.

If there's one thing to take away from the BA visit its that there's more than meets the eye when considering a brand. Moreover, there's more than one can imagine that goes on behind the scenes when one boards a BA flight from point A to point B.