British Airways

History

The corporate lineage of British Airways goes back to five airlines established in the United Kingdom between 1916 and 1922. The first of these, Aircraft Transport & Travel (AT&T), began the world's first daily international commercial air service from London to Paris on 25 August 1919. The five airlines merged in 1924 and several other airlines were established and merged during the 1930s and 1940s. The mergers and acquisitions resulted in two state-owned airlines, the British Overseas Airways Corporation (BOAC), formed in 1939, and British European Airways (BEA), formed in 1947.

Proposals to establish a single British airline, combining the assets of the BOAC and BEA, were first raised in 1953 as a result of difficulties in attempts by BOAC and BEA to negotiate air rights through the British colony of Cyprus. Increasingly BOAC was protesting that BEA was using its subsidiary Cyprus Airways to circumvent an agreement that BEA would not fly routes further east than Cyprus, particularly to the increasingly important oil regions in the Middle East. The chairman of BOAC, Miles Thomas, was in favour of a merger as a potential solution to this disagreement and had backing for the idea from the Chancellor of the Exchequer at the time, Rab Butler. However, opposition from the Treasury blocked the proposal.

Consequently, it was only following the recommendations of the 1969 Edwards Report that a new British Airways Board, managing both BEA and BOAC, and the two regional British airlines Cambrian Airways based at Cardiff, and Northeast Airlines based at Newcastle upon Tyne, was constituted on 1 April 1972. Although each airline's branding was maintained initially, two years later the British Airways Board unified its branding, effectively establishing British Airways as an airline on 31 March 1974.

Following two years of fierce competition with British Caledonian, the second-largest airline in the United Kingdom at the time, the Government changed its aviation policy in 1976 so that the two carriers would no longer compete on long-haul routes.

British Airways and Air France operated the Concorde, the world's first supersonic aircraft that first carried passengers on 21 January 1976 from London Heathrow to Bahrain. Services to the United States began on 24 May 1976 with a flight to Washington Dulles, and flights to New York JFK followed on 22 September 1977. Service to Singapore was established in co-operation with Singapore Airlines as a continuation of the flight to Bahrain. Following the crash of Air France Flight 4590 and the 11 September attacks, British Airways decided to cease Concorde operations in 2003 after 27 years of service. The final commercial Concorde flight was BA002 from New York-JFK to London-Heathrow on 24 October 2003.

Corporate affairs

Customer relations

British Airways has a reputation for poor service, including poor treatment by staff, frequent changes to its offerings, and an unwillingness to pay compensation claims. In 2025, the airline was named worst in long-haul flights, based on a customer survey by the consumer group, Which?. Increasingly the firm has focused on its consumers in more expensive classes, opposed to economy flyers. This shift began slowly in 2020, as a result of a corporate redirection, lead by current CEO Sean Doyle with a vision to expand the company's premium offerings. The company then announced suddenly in 2025 that they would change their loyalty point system for frequent flyers, inciting public backlash as many customers lost accrued value in points. The company was forced to reverse course on some of its strategic offerings, only for premium customers, after customer complaints.

In recent years, the firm has been noted publicly for its inability to respond to customer requests. During a recent power outage, the company's website stated that no flights were delayed, despite several cancellations occurring with passengers stranded on planes. In May 2025, A BBC journalist was incorrectly boarded on their flight by staff under a different name, causing her return journey to be cancelled. This exposed security failures present in the airline's practices.

Business trends

The key trends for British Airways are shown below.

On the merger with Iberia, the accounting reference date was changed from 31 March to 31 December; figures below are therefore for the years to 31 March up to 2010, for the nine months to 31 December 2010, and for the years to 31 December thereafter:

In 2020, due to the crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, British Airways had to reduce its 42,000-strong workforce by 12,000 jobs. According to the estimate by IAG, a parent company, it will take the air travel industry several years to return to previous performance and profitability levels.

However, 2022 saw a dramatic increase in travel, and the company now faced a worker shortage, forcing it to cancel more than 1,500 flights. During February 2023, The international airlines group, the owners of British Airways announced that the group has returned to making an annual profit of €1.3 billion for the first time since the pandemic, following a €2.8 billion loss in 2021. The company warned that due to the surge in demand for flying this could lead to more disruption.

Operations

British Airways is the largest airline based in the United Kingdom in terms of fleet size, international flights, and international destinations and was, until 2008, the largest airline by passenger numbers. The airline carried 34.6 million passengers in 2008, but, rival carrier easyJet transported 44.5 million passengers that year, passing British Airways for the first time. British Airways holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A Operating Licence, it is permitted to carry passengers, cargo, and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.

The airline's head office, Waterside, is located in Harmondsworth, a village near Heathrow Airport. Waterside was completed in June 1998 to replace British Airways' previous head office, Speedbird House, located on the grounds of Heathrow.

British Airways' main base is at Heathrow Airport, but it also has a major presence at Gatwick Airport. It also has a base at London City Airport, where its subsidiary BA CityFlyer is the largest operator. BA had previously operated a significant hub at Manchester Airport. Manchester to New York (JFK) services were withdrawn; later all international services outside London ceased when the subsidiary BA Connect was sold. Passengers wishing to travel internationally with BA either to or from regional UK destinations must now transfer in London. Heathrow Airport is dominated by British Airways, which owns 50% of the slots available at the airport as of 2019, growing from 40% in 2004. The majority of BA services operate from Terminal 5, with the exception of some flights at Terminal 3 owing to insufficient capacity at Terminal 5. At London City Airport, the company owns 52% of the slots as of 2019.

In August 2014, Willie Walsh advised the airline would continue to use flight paths over Iraq despite the hostilities there. A few days earlier Qantas announced it would avoid Iraqi airspace, while other airlines did likewise. The issue arose following the downing of Malaysia Airlines Flight 17 over Ukraine, and a temporary suspension of flights to and from Ben Gurion Airport during the 2014 Israel–Gaza conflict.

Subsidiaries

Over its history, BA has had many subsidiaries. In addition to the below, British Airways also owned Airways Aero Association, the operator of the British Airways flying club based at Wycombe Air Park in High Wycombe, until it was sold to Surinder Arora in 2007.

Shareholdings

British Airways obtained a 15% stake in the now-defunct UK regional airline Flybe from the sale of BA Connect in March 2007. It sold the stake in 2014.

BA also owned a 10% stake in InterCapital and Regional Rail (ICRR), the company that managed the operations of Eurostar (UK) Ltd from 1998 to 2010, when the management of Eurostar was restructured.

Industrial relations

Staff working for British Airways are represented by a number of trade unions. Pilots are represented by British Air Line Pilots' Association, cabin crew by British Airlines Stewards and Stewardesses Association, a branch of Unite the Union; other employees are represented by other Unite the Union branches and the GMB Union.

In 1997, under Bob Ayling, management faced strike action by cabin crew over a £1billion cost-cutting drive to return the airline to profitability. After this strike, in 2009 another cabin crew strike occurred. Staff morale has reportedly been unstable since the 2009 strike. In an effort to increase interaction between management, employees, and the unions, various conferences and workshops have taken place, often with thousands in attendance.

In 2005, wildcat action was taken by union members over a decision by Gate Gourmet not to renew the contracts of 670 workers and replace them with agency staff. The strike was estimated to cost British Airways £30 million, disrupting 100,000 passengers flights. In October 2006, BA became involved in a civil rights dispute when a Christian employee was forbidden to wear a necklace bearing the cross, a religious symbol. While a long-standing employee policy, British politicians such as the former Home Secretary John Reid and the former Foreign Secretary Jack Straw have questioned the policy.

Relations have been turbulent between BA and its largest union, Unite. In 2007, cabin crew threatened strike action over proposed salary changes, but was called off at the last minute. This disagreement resulted in losses of £80 million for the airline. In December 2009, a ballot for strike action over the Christmas holiday period received a high level of support, but action was blocked by a court injunction deeming the ballot illegal.

Negotiations between the parties failed to stop strike action in March 2010. During the strike, British Airways rescinded on employee benefits to those who participated in the strike. The Guardian reported that BA had consulted with outside firms in order undermine the unions: although the story was later withdrawn. Further disruption struck when Derek Simpson, a Unite co-leader, was discovered to have leaked details of confidential negotiations online via Twitter.

Legal issues

British Airways has been involved in several class action lawsuits, in addition to other legal disputes. In 2018, the company settled a UK-based class action suit for a data breach. In 2023, the company was required to pay US$1.1 million as the United States government found they refused to pay refunds in a timely manner. British Airways was in violation of the US Department of Transportation rules on refunds for cancelled flights.

Senior leadership

Chairman: Sean Doyle (since April 2021)

Chief executive: Sean Doyle (since October 2020)

British Airways Holidays

British Airways Holidays is a UK‑based tour operator providing holiday packages, hotels, car hire and travel experiences under the British Airways brand.

British Airways Holidays established in 1955 as Overseas Air Travel. It was renamed British Airways Holidays in 1991.

In 2024, British Airways Holidays transferred from British Airways to IAG Loyalty, the subsidiary of International Airlines Group responsible for managing the Avios loyalty currency, and Andrew Flintham was appointed to the business replacing the previous MD. The transfer was reported by independent business media in the context of organisational and leadership changes at British Airways Holidays.

British Airways Holidays sells ATOL‑protected flight‑inclusive holidays via ba.com and British Airways contact centres. According to the UK Civil Aviation Authority ATOL licence holder reports, British Airways Holidays ranks among the largest tour operators in the United Kingdom by authorised passenger volume.

The business is integrated with The British Airways Club loyalty programme. British Airways allows members to use Avios as payment or part‑payment on selected British Airways Holidays packages. Changes to the programme in 2025 saw British Airways Holidays bookings contributing to members’ tier status.

Destinations

As of August 2022, British Airways serves 70 countries, including eight domestic and 27 in the United States.

Alliances

British Airways co-founded the airline alliance Oneworld in 1999 with airlines American Airlines, Cathay Pacific and Qantas.

Codeshare agreements

British Airways has codeshares with the following airlines:

Interline agreements

British Airways has Interline agreements with the following airlines:

Royal Brunei Airlines

Virgin Atlantic

Fleet

As of February 2025, the British Airways operates a fleet of 274 aircraft with 42 orders. BA operates a mix of Airbus narrow and wide-body aircraft, Boeing wide-body aircraft, specifically the 777, 787 and Embraer E-Jet family a narrow-body, short- to medium-range, twin-engined regional aircraft airliners, specifically the Embraer E190. In October 2020, British Airways retired its fleet of 747-400 aircraft. It was one of the largest operators of the 747, having previously operated the -100, -200, and -400 aircraft from 1974 (1969 with BOAC).

British Airways Engineering

The airline has its own engineering branch to maintain its aircraft fleet, this includes line maintenance at over 70 airports around the world. Amongst the company's various hangar facilities are its two major maintenance centres at Glasgow and Cardiff Airports.

Marketing

Branding

The musical theme predominantly used on British Airways advertising has been "The Flower Duet" by Léo Delibes. This was first used in a 1984 advertisement directed by Tony Scott, in an arrangement by Howard Blake. It was reworked by Malcolm McLaren and Yanni for 1989's iconic "Face" advertisement, and subsequently appeared in many different arrangements between 1990 and 2010. The slogan 'the world's favourite airline', first used in 1983, was dropped in 2001 after Lufthansa overtook BA in terms of passenger numbers. Other advertising slogans have included "The World's Best Airline", "We'll Take More Care of You", "Fly the Flag", and "To Fly, To Serve".

BA had an account for 23 years with Saatchi & Saatchi, an agency that created many of their most famous advertisements, including "The World's Biggest Offer" and the influential "Face" campaign. Saatchi & Saatchi later imitated this advert for Silverjet, a rival of BA, after BA discontinued their business activities. Since 2007, BA used Bartle Bogle Hegarty as its advertising agency.

In October 2022, BA launched a brand new ad campaign, titled "A British Original" produced by London-based Uncommon Creative Studio. This was to be another record-breaking campaign for its use of 500 unique executions along with a series of 32 short films, coinciding with the launch of Ozwald Boateng's new collection of uniform.

British Airways purchased the internet domain ba.com in 2002 from previous owner Bell Atlantic, 'BA' being the company's initialism and its IATA Airline code.

British Airways is the official airline of the Wimbledon Championship tennis tournament, and was the official airline and tier one partner of the 2012 Summer Olympics and Paralympics. BA was also the official airline of England's bid to host the 2018 Football World Cup.

High Life, founded in 1973, is the official in-flight magazine of the airline.

Safety video

The airline used a cartoon safety video from circa 2005 until 2017. Beginning on 1 September 2017 the airline introduced the new Comic Relief live action safety video hosted by Chabuddy G, with appearances by British celebrities Gillian Anderson, Rowan Atkinson, Jim Broadbent, Rob Brydon, Warwick Davis, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Ian McKellen, Thandie Newton, and Gordon Ramsay. A "sequel" video, also hosted by Chabuddy G, was released in 2018, with Michael Caine, Olivia Colman, Jourdan Dunn, Naomie Harris, Joanna Lumley, and David Walliams. The two videos are part of Comic Relief's charity programme. On 17 April 2023, the airline launched a new safety video as a part of "A British Original" campaign, with Emma Raducanu, Robert Peston, Little Simz, and Steven Bartlett.

Liveries, logos, and tail fins

The aircraft that British Airways inherited from the four-way merger between BOAC, BEA, Cambrian, and Northeast were temporarily given the text logo "British airways" but retained the original airline's livery. With its formation in 1974, British Airways' aeroplanes were given a new white, blue, and red colour scheme with a cropped Union Jack painted on their tail fins, designed by Negus & Negus. In 1984, a new livery designed by Landor Associates updated the airline's look as it prepared for privatisation. To celebrate its centenary in 2019, BA announced four retro liveries: three on Boeing 747-400 aircraft (one in each of BOAC, Negus & Negus, and Landor Associates liveries), and one A319 in BEA livery.

In 1997, there was a controversial change to a new Project Utopia livery; all aircraft used the corporate colours consistently on the fuselage, but tailfins bore one of multiple designs. Several people spoke out against the change, including the former prime minister Margaret Thatcher, who famously covered the tail of a model 747 at an event with a handkerchief, to show her displeasure. BA's traditional rival, Virgin Atlantic, took advantage of the negative press coverage by applying the Union flag to the winglets of their aircraft along with the slogan "Britain's national flagcarrier".

In 1999, the CEO of British Airways, Bob Ayling, announced that all BA planes would adopt the tailfin design Chatham Dockyard Union Flag originally intended to be used only on the Concorde, based on the Union Flag.

Arms

In 2011, British Airways made a brand relaunch project, in which BA introduced a stylised, metallic version of the arms by For People Design to be used along with its Speedmarque logo. This is used exclusively on aircraft, First Wing Lounge and advertisements.

In 2024, the damaged letters patent of the arms went up for auction online before being withdrawn.

Loyalty programme

British Airways' tiered loyalty programme, called the British Airways Club, is a programme designed to incentivise its members to travel on British Airways and other partners, by advertising benefits and awarding members with currency. Members would accrue points called 'Avios' and 'tier points' based on methods permitted by the airline, which included flying on the airline itself. Avios is a currency owned by its parent company International Airlines Group. 'Tier points' are used to determine a member's tier in the programme. Once a member reached a high enough tier by attaining enough 'tier points', they could access airport lounges and dedicated "fast" queues.

Members of the programme were also granted status within the Oneworld alliance, which permitted similar benefits when flying with Oneworld member airlines. The level of benefits were determined by the member's tier.

On 1 April 2025, the programme was rebranded from 'Executive Club' to 'The British Airways Club'. Before the rebrand, 'tier points' were earned based on the airline, distance and cabin class flown. With the 'British Airways Club', 'tier points' are now earned based on absolute spending with the airline (including the fare component and carrier-imposed surcharges, but not Government Taxes or Airport fees such as Air Passenger Duty). 1 'tier point' is awarded per £1 spent. Additional tier points can also be earned through booking a holiday package (flight plus hotel and/or car rental) through British Airways Holidays, or achieving specific spend thresholds on BA's premium American Express credit card.

Cabins and services

Short haul

Economy class

Euro Traveller is British Airways' economy class cabin on all short-haul flights within Europe, including domestic flights within the UK.

Heathrow and Gatwick-based flights are operated by Airbus A320 series aircraft. Seat pitch varies from 78" to 31" depending on aircraft type and location of the seat.

All flights from Heathrow and Gatwick have a buy on board system with a range of food designed by Tom Kerridge. Food can be pre-ordered through the British Airways mobile application. Alternatively, a limited selection can be purchased on-board using credit and debit card or by using Frequent Flyer Avios points. British Airways is rolling out Wi-Fi across its fleet of aircraft with 90% expected to be Wi-Fi enabled by 2020.

Business class

Club Europe is the short-haul business class available on all short-haul flights. This class allows for access to business lounges at most airports and complimentary onboard catering, as well as fast-track security at most airports. The middle seat of the standard Airbus configured cabin is left free. Instead, a cocktail table folds up from under the middle seat on refurbished aircraft.

Mid-haul and long-haul

First class

First is offered on all Airbus A380s, Boeing 777-300ERs, Boeing 787-9/10s and on some Boeing 777-200ERs. There are between eight and fourteen private suites depending on the aircraft type. Each First suite comes with a 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) bed, a 15-inch (38 cm) wide entertainment screen, in-seat power and complimentary Wi-Fi access on select aircraft.

The exclusive Concorde Room lounge at Heathrow Terminal 5 is directly accessible via a private door from security, and offers pre-flight dining with waiter service and more intimate space. Dedicated British Airways 'Galleries First' lounges are available at some airports, and Business lounges are used where these are not available. Some feature a 'First Dining' section where passengers holding a first class ticket can access a pre-flight dining service.

Club World

Club World is the long-haul business class cabin. The cabin features fully convertible flat bed seats. In March 2019, BA unveiled its new business-class seats – named Club Suite – on the new A350 aircraft, which feature a suite with a door.

World Traveller Plus

World Traveller Plus is the premium economy class cabin provided on all BA long haul aircraft. This cabin offers wider seats, extended leg-room, additional seat comforts such as larger IFE screen, a foot rest and power sockets. An enhanced food and beverage offering is also a feature of this class. Passengers are given a light refreshment upon boarding and a hot towel shortly after take-off.

World Traveller

World Traveller is the mid-haul and long-haul economy class cabin. It offers seat-back entertainment, complimentary food and drink, pillows, and blankets. While the in-flight entertainment screens are available on all long-haul aircraft, international power outlets are available on the aircraft based at Heathrow. Wifi is also available on selected aircraft at an extra fee.

Incidents and accidents

British Airways is known to have a strong reputation for safety and has been consistently ranked within the top 20 safest airlines globally according to Business Insider and AirlineRatings.com.

Since BA's inception in 1974, it has been involved in three hull-loss incidents (British Airways Flight 149 was destroyed on the ground at Kuwait International Airport as a result of military action during the First Gulf War with no one on board) and two hijacking attempts. To date, the only fatal accident experienced by a BA aircraft occurred in 1976 with British Airways Flight 476 which was involved in a midair collision later attributed to an error made by air traffic control.

On 23 July 1974, a British Airways flight from Aldergrove Airport to London Heathrow was forced to divert to Manchester Airport after the discovery of an explosive device on board. All passengers and crew were evacuated safely. The Provisional Irish Republican Army (IRA) claimed responsibility for planting the bomb (see 1974 British Airways bombing attempt).

On 22 November 1974, British Airways Flight 870 was hijacked shortly after take-off from Dubai International Airport for London-Heathrow. The Vickers VC10 landed at Tripoli for refuelling before flying on to Tunis. The captain, Jim Futcher, returned to the aircraft to fly it knowing the hijackers were on board. A hostage, 43-year-old German banker Werner Gustav Kehl, was shot in the back. The hijackers eventually surrendered after 84 hours. Futcher was awarded the Queen's Gallantry Medal, the Guild of Air Pilots and Air Navigators Founders Medal, the British Air Line Pilots Association Gold Medal and a Certificate of Commendation from British Airways for his actions during the hijacking.

On 10 September 1976, a Trident 3B on British Airways Flight 476 departed from London-Heathrow to Istanbul. It collided in mid-air with an Inex Adria DC9-31 near Zagreb. All 54 passengers and 9 crew members on the BA aircraft died. This is the only fatal accident to a British Airways aircraft since the company's formation in 1974.

On 24 June 1982, British Airways Flight 9, a Boeing 747-200 registration G-BDXH, flew through a cloud of volcanic ash and dust from the eruption of Mount Galunggung. The ash and dust caused extensive damage to the aircraft, including the failure of all four engines. The crew managed to glide the plane out of the dust cloud and restart all four of its engines, although one later had to be shut down again. The volcanic ash caused the cockpit window to be scratched to such an extent that it was difficult for the pilots to see out of the plane. However, the aircraft made a successful emergency landing at Halim Perdanakusuma International Airport just outside Jakarta. There were no fatalities or injuries.