will the same luggage policy apply to BA crew who always have 2/3 large pieces of hand luggage or just to customers?

tempest, new delhi, india

Ken Livingstone is too busy counting the income from his Congestion Charges and calculating where to pilfer money for London 2012 to be too bothered about a few dead kids.

With regards to BA, well, this move will probably turn some off flying BA, and if they stop flying altogether, its good for the climate!

Pete, Cov,

So first they tell people to put things in more than one suitcase to save the backs of the poor luggage handlers, and now they tell people to put everything in one suitcase?

I'm confused (and never flying with BA again, oh, hang on, I didn't fly with them anyway).

M. Ross, Lancaster,

Sir,
This move by BA is grossly unfair and has no basis. No one in the Western world should accept such an encroachment on individual rights, whilst reaping more financial gain as a business enterprise. BA is only thinking of their own financial gain at the expense of passenger discomfort. Flying is already uncomfortable for many reasons, plus taxes. Flights on BA are not cheap and competitive enough for this rash move. I pray readers will silently revolt by refusing carrriage by BA, as it is unlikely public opinion will change BA's minds.

Andrew C, London,

I fly most weeks, sometimes using BA, sometimes taking two bags (one with samples which I leave in my destination country).

I will reduce my flights with BA (in the same way as I've stopped using Ryanair due to poor service) and use other "friendly" airlines such as Swiss, Lufthansa, LOT, Czech etc.. It seems Mr Walsh has forgotten we have a choice.

The answer is to not use BA - there are a host of other carriers flying from UK's airports, use them instead.

John, High Wycombe, Bucks

One point of correction on the baggage allowance; it is only dropping to 23kg for economy, business is now 46kg instead of 30 and first is 96kg instead of 40. As a businessman laden with working papers and files and travelling in Club, I generally finish up with around 28kg plus my computer bag. Having only two arms I prefer one 28kg suitcase to two 14kg ones. Try getting three pieces of luggage to Heathrow on the Tube and Heathrow express and you will know what I mean. Otherwise an excellent article.

Ian Lang, Si, Italy

Now that we know to avoid BA if we want to take more than one piece of checked baggage ($600 from OZ return per piece!!), it's not clear what happens on code-share flights.

Does a QF ticket holder on a BA aircraft have to pay the $600 per extra bag?

Does a BA ticket holder on a QF aircraft have to pay the $600 per extra bag?

Anyone planning a flight to London needs to know the details and I've not seen any adverts about this ( - or they can go SQ TG JA etc. of course!).

Peter Johnson, Canberra,

You may find it safe but having spent a number of flights wiht BA being used as some kind of buffer while the staff stomped up and down the aisle has convinced me never to fly economy again (if I can't afford premium then I won't fly) and never to fly with BA again. If I was fat and hanging out of the seat then perhaps I'd have no argument. But I'm not. I received more consideration from other passengers.

So I do feel safe about BA flights as I won't be using them again.

Steve Ipswich, Ipswich,

It will be interesting to monitior staff sickness as more baggage handlers "do their backs" from chucking fewer but heavier bags. And will BA's operators at airports sue them for the problems?

J Bustard, Craigavon, UK

Sadly the time as come when one tells one's travel agent-any airline other than BA. Grumpy cabin staff and constant threats of strikes by their employees make it the last choice. The days when one felt proud to be flying the World's Favourite Arline have long gone.

derek collins, London, UK

We're ex-pat Brits living in the US and fly across the pond endlessly. BA are the worst! Recently despite arriving at JFK 3 hours early and standing in a queue the whole time my 16 year old daughter missed her flight to the UK. We flagged up to the desk staff that we were there over 15 times during the course of that three hours only to be told that everything was under control.

When we reached the front of the line they had given her seat to someone else. No apology, no solution - In fact we were accused of lying. I had to produce a parking ticket to prove we'd been there for three hours. I don't know what we could have done to make this OK. We arrived in plenty of time and we drew the airlines attention to the fact that we were there repeatedly. I wrote to complain and heard nothing because quite honestly they don't care. Their customer service used to be good but in the last year it has declined dramatically - I advise everyone to give them a wide-birth.

Jill, New York, USA

British Airways is entirely representative of Britain today.

Steve Blencowe, Lorignac, France

The world's favourite airline - THE WORLD'S FAVOURITE AIRLINE?! Who came up with that slogan - clearly they must have been sitting in an Emirates aircraft or something when turbulance caused temporary insanity. Clearly the person has never traveled with BA.

I had a fantastic flight with them (not) - very special it was too - Christmas day to Orlando - I was forced to sit for 9 hours behind a seat that was conistently in the recline position - and then some - so it was actually leaning on my knees - turkey was served on the guy's head who was sitting in front. Terrible. The stewardess then asked the man in front to sit up - not that him sitting straight could do anything for me as the seat was broken.

Low and behold, on our return flight, checked in, and I saw the same seat number on my ticket as the outward flight. Convinced I couldn't possibly be that unlucky I toddled onto the aircraft..

.. the same seat, same problem, same stupid cabin crew, where was EASYJET?!

Justin, Bangkok, Thailand

I want to fly BA - I am British and feel that the extra I pay against the budget airlines. But this is the last straw. last week I flew SAA to Johannesburg instaed of BA - in teh nest three weeks I go to Sydney - it will not be BA. I think they have underestimated what effect this will have on the general public who fill the back of the bus. Cosnumers have choices!

Mike Compton, Chichester, UK

BA understand customer service less than any other airline I've travelled with. Unfortunately, a route I often travel pretty much forces me to choose BA. Given other choices, they would be my least preferable. They simply DO NOT CARE.

Paul, Los Angeles, USA

BA stands for Bloody Awful. Perhaps try Air Chance (Air France).

David , Tokyo, japan

Indeed there is a solution. Lots of them. They are the other airlines. Vote with your wallet as i have done and see how it should be. Try Cathay, Qatar, Emirates, Iceland Air...the list is happily very long and with the exception of the US airlines, all of whom are technically insolvent, and make Bloody Bloody BA look like a paragon of customer service. After 10 years of business class travel with BA, earning nearly 1 million air miles, spending over £150,000 in fares, i finally had enough last year after being warned over asking for another drink on the grounds i may pose a security threat. 2 small beers will do that. They simply don't care, they don't train the staff, and all the while the business class cabin is full there is no impetus to change anything. I now travel with Qatar airlines and have found them to be as close to perfection as is possible. Try the others and kick BA where it hurts. The Bottom Line.

bruce bettridge, Tring, UK

I have been flying between London and the Caribbean up to six times a year by BA for 35 years. Soon after I could afford Executive Class, they changed the seats. In order to squeeze in an extra seat per row, you now have to sit facing a total stranger. I would like to upgrade to First Class but, on my route, this is not provided. On one occasion, a different plane was laid on and it had First Class. I asked to pay to upgrade. Nothing doing. Free upgrades were offered to staff and then selected passengers from Traveller. Why? 'Instructions from London. To give you First Class will compromise the Club product.'
I have switched to Virgin.

Don Ward, Willikies, Antigua

I've just booked my summer holiday flights and had the choice of BA or a charter airline - at approximately the same price. I chose the charter airline as I feel it has less chance of being cancelled due to strikes, lack of staff or other excuse. The BA experience is just terrible. Charter/Easyjet/Ryanair may be no frills - but they get you there!
As for the luggage charge....absolute stupidity...what are the Management thinking of? Do they enjoy negative publicity?

caroline, pinner,

Hate to be contrarian but, when my wife and I travel to the UK from Detroit. Michigan, USA, we always fly BOAC, does that date me? Always leave here on time and gets to the UK early. The "stus" are always friendly and the food, not bad,,,,and the free Vino Rosso is'nt bad either.

Bob Lee, Bloomfield Hills, USA

Which river does Ken have to cross to get to Peckham?
Michael (also south of the river)

Michael Place, London, UK

This BA thing is one more rip off, I, up until yesterday flew regular trans Atlantic flights with BA but not anymore.
By the way extra allowances for Ist class passengers!
Is there not a law against "Discrimination" ??
Mike

Mike Scott, Newcastle, UK

Ken Livingstone will do nothing as to do so it would upset his politically correct vision of "multicultural London". We can expect nothing but a deafening silence from him on the recent events in Peckham. It is a disgrace, but not very surprising.

Ralph Lawson, London, United Kingdom

It is time that airlines instituted regulations that take into account the total contribution to weight of a passenger and his/her luggage, as proposed recently by Matthew Parris and others. It is an unjust nonsense to be penalised for extra kilos in one's luggage when many others are carrying far more weight on their persons. It is also time to review the dimensions of 'hand' baggage which keeps getting larger and heavier, to the inconvenience of all except the perpetrator. A simple rule would sort this out - ban all wheeled hand luggage - (surely a contradiction). Wheels simply make it possible to load more weight into a larger case. This would not be contemplated if the passenger had to carry the luggage. We will swiftly see a return to genuinely 'hand' luggage.

Donald Sammut, Bristol,

Great

Michael Brouse, Tampa, Fl

Ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha cough, splutter, oh thats enough.
Ken Livingstone and leader, the words don't really go together!! and anyway, it's easier to pop off to some Latin American country than care about the local people.

Mike Jones, Farnborough, Hampshire

Thank you BA. Now I will not feel guilty using other airlines.
You have certainly lost my custom. Just think, some immigrants are obliged to take gifts for their relatives. In fact the presents alone would fill up one bag.

As it is your service to kenya and mumbai is terrible. Now I can try others.

sam, ilford, essex

The world is full of better airlines that BA. The amazing thing is that your bag pays more than you!! You may as well end up watching your bag sitting in first class sipping a glass of champagne while you are dumped somewhere else.

Paolo Ardisson, Crawley,

I cannot feel more sorry for my colleagues working in the terminals... Having to charge passengers a not insignificant amount will seem like another kick in the face after hours of queuing. Get the customers onboard, and we feel obliged to serve an apology as a side dish to every sub-standard meal (That's if your are lucky to be served two meals worthy of even that description). I know what I would do if I was a fare paying passenger, and that is to take my business elsewhere. This policy has been in the pipeline for some time now but let's have ALL the bad news (strikes, baggage charges, higher taxes etc) at once. Perhaps now the general public will appreciate what kind of management we, as employees, have had to deal with. Willie Walsh has two goals: To provide shareholders with an overdue dividend, and securing a bonus. Without a care in the world for passenger/employee welfare, or justifiable policies.

Name withheld, BA Cabin Crew, Reading, Berkshire

Ryanair is so rude that I almost enjoy it - and I enjoy feeling superior to the staff because I know they wouldn't work there if they could get a job with a good company - even though I know that could make me a masochist. But I'm not such a masochist that I don't prefer to fly easyjet. Contrary to what you say, easyjet is quite a friendly airline to fly with.

David Short, London, UK

As a frequent flyer to Egypt I have long given up on BA Why?
BA flights are like cattle trucks - no leg room. terrible food - terrible service- delays- officious check in staff - flight attendants trying to flog off ( expensive ) "duty free" every 5 minutes - payment for headphones.

Now I fly EgyptAir always. why? - fares 50% to 33% of BAs - few delays ( except down to BAA at Heathrow)- excellent food - generous baggage allowances - no hidden charges - lots of leg room - polite cabin staff - and NO drunks as they do not sell/supply booze. A real pleasure to fly.
Forget the "National Carrier" and choose the one that best suits you.

Ian, Cairo, Egypt

BA is better. The brits are good at putting things about their country down in the six,t es it was strike,s when there were far more here

Michael Elbourne, Victoria.BC, Canada

ABBA - Anybody But British Airways.
Are they havin' a laugh?
BA - welcome to the world of competition; you're not the only one out there. The original "world's favourite airline" malarkey sounds a tad hollow. Britiash Airways is unfortunately synonymous with the low end of anything to do with Britain, and it's a pity for them that they've just cut off that income stream by this rather incomprehensible act. Good luck, and Good bye!

samtam, Bangkok, Thailand

Ken was probably off toadying to some ludicrous tropical socialist - he seems to think that's the foreign policy brief for the job of mayor of a big city.
One positive thing on the airline front. I have to fly a lot with Austrian. A few months ago they abandoned pretending they were a budget airline, charging for sandwiches and drinks, and became a proper airline again.
Skimming the clouds with a glass of red wine in my hand is something that brings the pleasure back into flying, and my money into the hands of any airline who treats me well. BA take note.

Nicholas Walton, Newcastle,

I had a most traumatic incident five years ago travelling on BA flight. we were a family of 3 persons travelling together. Our baggage was 5 pounds over weight and we were forced to fork out £125 as excess baggage charge. When protesting against this to check in staff they dismissed it as following management orders.Even the cashier who collected the payment thought it was wrong because even the scales could be erronius by that margin and BA dont display calliberation certificate on their weighing machines.
I and my family have boycotted BA since then because they did not respond to my written concerns.In my view BA are the looser because we have used other airlines for the 30 odd flights since then.BA is quickly becoming a third world carrier running for the benefit of its employees and greedy management and not the fare paying passengers specially in Traveller cabin.The service in traveller cabin to bombay was attrocious then. i hate to think what is it now

Nandkumar, Maidenhead, Berks

I agree with your comment about feeling safer on BA. I've used them since they were BOAC and BEA, and whatever other feeder carrier I used, I always felt comfortable and safer on boarding a BA aircraft.
I am now one of those poor old souls who will have trouble with the baggage limit. Unless I travel with friends, I'm pretty much constrained to one bag, usually at max 30kgs allowed weight, that can at least be towed,either to the check-in desk or from baggage reclaim at my destination. I'd have real difficulty splitting it into 2 cases and hobbling along with a stick, even using the excellent 'assist' facilities. Even they, when they use a wheelchair as a transit medium , would also find 2 or more cases difficult to manage.
On the face of it it does seem to be a short sighted policy, but Im sure theres a solution.
BG

Bill Glanvill, Horsham, W Sussex

Your piece is a little misleading. Yes, BA is charging more for baggage in some instances but its website says that it will only affect 2% of passengers. Note that the new rule doesn't apply on long haul services to North America, the Carribean and Mexico (you can still check in 2 bags here) and the baggage charge is only £30, not £120, for domestic traffic. And they still give you one free bag before the excess charges apply. That said, it's seems a strange way to build the business back after the upsets since August. Truth is, BA remains a pretty civilised way to fly and its cabin crew are friendlier than most. But it certainly would be a shame if all this faded away should passengers start to desert the airline because of fears about these new charges.

Richard Davies, London,

I am a shareholder of BA since privatisation but long ago ceased to fly them given a chance. As a frequent flyer on One World airlines I avoid BA given the chance much preferring Cathay Pacific which combines safety with pleasantness and service both on board and on the ground. Europeans, in general, and the British, in particular, have forgotten the meaning of service and civility.

My fear for the longer term is that the cheapskate flight mentality creeps into Asia and its airlines lowering overall standards. The concept is still in the take off stage. But competition works positivelt too. Take India, where new private airlines such as Jet are wiping the floor with the old state monolith Air India on service, timeliness and price.

William Thomson, Guildford, Surrey

Here's to driving across France and shunning planes.
I used to be Travel Editor of a national newspaper and would think nothing of flying to 3 different countries in a week. Now I own Le Castel, a chateau guest house in Normandy, and nothing would tempt me back onto a plane. My guests obviously feel the same - they put their cars on the ferry and arrive with masses of luggage and every kind of liquid they desire (more importanly they can take French liquid back!)
Brittany Ferries are the BA of the cross channel ferries - they offer a premium service, but haven't yet started weighing cars.
Janice - I look forward to seeing you in France.

jon barnsley, Montpinchon, France

Article spot on. You should send it direct to Willie Walsh.

N.C.Granby, Milan, Italy

The contempt BA shows for its passengers is nothing new. Seven years ago they failed to accompany my (then) young children across the Atlantic as formally requested, subsequent to which they then lost their luggage. Not only did their spokesperson refuse to give her name, she also refused to apologise. It will be a cold day in Hell before I willingly travel BA again and I have made it my business since then to make sure everyone I talk to about air travel knows what happened to us. I wonder how BA quantify the cost of bad public relations?

A. Watson, London,

After a pleasant flight from Helsinki to London to New York last year just before the liquid bomb scare, I still had faith in BA. The return trip from Miami after the scare was a nightmare with the newly imposed security restrictions. This year, BA is out of the equation thanks to the extortionist baggage policy. The first time I flew BA was in 1957 from Kingston, Jamaica to New York, it was then B.O.A.C.
Each passenger was given a little B.O.A.C carry-on bag for free. BA has come a long way to the point where I now say, goodbye and good riddance.

Charles Lewin, Helsinki,

These charges are unreal. Am I dreaming? After pressure from Help the Aged, BA is supposedly going to look kindly on disabled or elderly passengers, but what about the tens of thousands with a dodgy back? Are they going to have to produce a doctor's note?

Helen Whichelow, Camberley, Surrey

I used to travel BA till one too many cheap mistakes & i simply turned over to AirFrance, who give a better service for the money paid.

sherif kader, Cairo, Egypt

You've hit the nail on the head when you say BA is not a cheapo airline. By making the extra baggage charge so high they mean business when they try to deter passengers bringing extra bags on to flights, unlike Mr O'Leary of Ryanair who is out to make more profit as he knows people will pay the 'extras' that are gradually pushing up his prices. If the reduction in suitcases means even a small contribution to pollution reduction, bring on the charges BA.

Wendy Findlay, Ghent, Belgium