Minter goes for knockout on BA

British Airways is in the dock again. This time it is not with the monopolies regulators or Richard Branson, but with one of its own passengers, or ex-passengers, it would seem.

A Mr Minter Dial of Paris has written to Marketing Week with his correspondence with BA over the past year. Mr Dial is particularly irked by BA’s decision to axe benefits of Executive Club membership from passengers who take discounted flights.

BA brought in the changes in September 1995 when it relaunched the Executive Club, and decided to exclude discount flyers from Air Miles and access to special airport lounges.

Dial is so incensed by the changes, and the apparently “heavy-handed” treatment meted out to his wife and himself by BA and its customer services officers, that he is now campaigning for his friends and business contacts never to fly BA again. He has also vowed to veto any other companies with which BA is associated.

The Diary, ever the consumer’s champion, wishes Mr Dial the best with his campaign. And it is even considering setting up an alternative loyalty scheme called “Diary Inches” for any Marketing Week reader who provides us with good copy for the column.