Political Issues of British Airways Company and Its Corporate Structure
British Airways is the nation's second largest and most well-known airline, based in Heathrow Airport and Gatwick Airport in London. March 1974 is recognized as the foundation of British Airways. This year, the United Kingdom's current government merged four companies: two nationalized airlines corporation: British Oversea Airways Corporation and British European Airways, and two smaller: Cumbrian Airways and Northeast Airlines. However, in 2009 British Airways was privatized, and in January 2011, the airline merged with Iberia airline creating International Airlines Group, the second-largest airline in Europe. British Airways operates domestic and international flights to approximately 600 destinations. The airline is also a founding member of the One world.
Structure, Management Style, and Corporate Culture
British Airways has a flat structure, which means it has limited management but a wide span of control. The airline mainly adopted a divisional structure and created individual units which allow better functioning of the company. This style of structure allows managers easy supervise employers, and it clearly states the job role. However, it might increase the dissatisfaction of employees who might feel strictly watched.
British Airways is a Public Limited Company owned by stockholders without government involvement. Since the liberalization and privatization of the airline, the company developed the transformational style based on contingency theory that explains that different leadership styles are needed in different situations. Furthermore, according to this thesis, a company's success is dependent not just on leadership, but also on the performance and loyalty of its employees. In addition, the modification of leadership contributes to effective communication, and increases enthusiasm. Moreover, the management and leadership can instruct the subordinates about their roles which are significant for realizing company goals.
The hierarchical structure of British Airways consists of one level of top management and another level of bottom management. The top-level management is also split into two teams: The Management Board, which oversees the company's plan and strategic direction, and The Customer and Operations Executive, who is in charge of service quality, operational efficiency, and the highest safety regulations. British Airways applies the competitive organizational culture, which focuses on job completion. Leaders and management encourage and motivate employees by using financial rewards by BA's bonus program. This style of the motivational framework is based on the Tylor theory, which claims that people need reword to boost their productivity. The motivational style encourages workers to work harder and provide a better service in exchange for financial bonuses what benefits both employers and British Airways.
Political Analysis
Political factors significantly impact the airline industry, including controlling market attractiveness and creating a business-friendly environment. The United Kingdom aviation industry is mainly regulated by EU legislation and the Civil Aviation Authority, which control the standards, traffic rights, consumer rights, and operator licensing. However, apart from the above regulation, government decisions also significantly impact the airline industry.
The British government decided to abolish flights to some of the territories with high levels of terrorist what has a positive impact on the safety of passengers and British Airways staff. However, the ban of flights to the chosen nations might negatively impact the company's budgets by decreasing the number of operated destinations. Furthermore, the decision about Brexit significantly impacts the travel industry and British Airways' business, and the company needs to overcome several challenges to increase the number of passengers.
Conclusion
As the world second largest airline company British Airways has great corporate structure and leadership role that help the company developing each year. On the other hand, there are some political issues that can put under the question the level of safety providing by British Airways to their passengers.
