Airline wars: Twitter becomes the new battleground

Tuesday's inaugural flight of BA001, British Airways' new flagship premium service from London City to New York JFK, was always destined to be a media frenzy.

Almost all of the 32 seats had been snapped up months in advance by airline bosses and senior journalists – keen to judge the hotly-anticipated service for themselves – and with BA rolling out its new OnAir mobile connectivity service, Twitter inevitably took centre-stage.

Travel stalwart @TimesTravel led the way by devoting its entire feed to tweets from within the aircraft, but its comments weren't all positive – and events took a surreal turn when @VirginAtlantic, no doubt feeling left out by the hullabaloo, boisterously declared a mid-air race.

BA's decision to press ahead with the Business Class service comes at a tricky time for the industry, which heaps pressure on the flag carrier to make it a success.

The last time flight number BA001 was called, @TimesTravel noted, was when Concorde was still in service. "Not sure an A318 really fills those shoes," it pondered while on the tarmac at London City. The plane hadn't even taken off, and already there were complaints.

Once aboard there was further consternation from the tweeting press. @TimesTravel complained that Shannon Airport, where the flight makes a stop-over, was "grotty", while CNN's @RichardQuest bemoaned how the comparatively small plane was prone to turbulence.

"Just discovering small planes bounce around more when crossing atlantic," he tweeted, in between posting several wide-grinned snaps. "Like being in sports car."

That didn't stop BA Chief Executive Willie Walsh revelling in the media spotlight as he hosted a cramped mid-air press conference. But unbeknownst to him, longstanding rival carrier Virgin Atlantic was poised to enter the fray in a jealous attempt to steal his thunder.

"[Transatlantic flight] #VS45 is about to overtake you!" @VirginAtlantic cheekily tweeted to BA. "We left London 90 mins later than you but we'll be at The Peninsula bar, NY first!"

Inevitably, that provocation ignited a furious new wave of media tweeting. You almost wonder if any of the press had time to enjoy the view, so distracted must they have been with their iPhones. But Virgin's outburst raised valid questions about the viability of the service.

Three previous Business Class-only carriers – MaxJet, EOS and Silverjet – have filed for bankruptcy in the past two years, and critics are quick to pick flaws in the new BA link.

As well as being more expensive than its existing flights from London Heathrow, the new service is arguably less convenient. Passengers have to disembark during a re-fuelling stop at Shannon, and the smaller size of the A318 inevitably makes flight-times longer.

The jury is still out over BA's claim that enabling passengers to undergo US customs checks in Ireland makes it all worthwhile, but one thing is certain. With the stakes for winning over the flying public greater than ever, Twitter is rapidly shaping up to be a key battleground.

© Martin Rivers

The views expressed in this column are those of the author and do not reflect the views of Cheap Flight News