Business Context of British Airways

This report provides an analysis of the business context of British Airways, including SWOT and PESTLE analysis, leadership styles, and corporate social responsibilities. It discusses the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats of the airline, as well as suitable leadership styles and its corporate social responsibilities.

Context of Business

Table of contents
INTRODUCTION...........................................................................................................................3
MAIN BODY..................................................................................................................................3
SWOT Analysis...........................................................................................................................3
PESTLE Analysis........................................................................................................................4
Pestle factors influencing the opportunities and threats of the business.....................................4
Strengths help in negating the threats and weakness affect the opportunities.............................5
Comparing and contrasting the styles of leadership....................................................................6
Suitable leadership style for the British Airways........................................................................7
Corporate social responsibilities of British Airways...................................................................8
CONCLUSION..............................................................................................................................10
REFRENCES.................................................................................................................................11

INTRODUCTION
This report consists of the business context of the British Airways. This airline is
the flag carrier of the UK. The airline is headquartered at London, England that is near the main
hub at the Heathrow Airport. The airline is the second largest UK based carrier after EasyJet.
The net income of the airlines is £1,952 million. The report consists of the SWOT and PESTLE
analysis of the company. The Pestle factors that are influencing the threats and opportunities of
the business are discussed. The strengths of the airline are addressed in negating the threats as
well as the weakness affecting the opportunity is discussed. The various types of leadership
styles are compared and contrasted in the report. Suitable leadership style for the British Airways
is chosen for achieving the objectives of the airline. The corporate social responsibilities of the
British Airways are discussed at the end.
MAIN BODY
SWOT Analysis
Strengths – The safety of the British Airways is increased and the accidents are reduced to great
extent. The company is investing and in making the business sustainable by improving the
overall experience and technology along with expanding the international network. The company
is also reducing the carbon footprint by investing in the fuel efficiency.
Weaknesses – The Rolls Royce engine has created problem for the British Airways as it has
decreased the punctuality of the British Airways. The organisation is facing issues with the
working of the human resource as the pilots went on the strike and caused a legal dispute. The
airline is heavily dependent on the local market for the revenue generation.
Opportunities – The airlines can expand the services for increasing the revenue such as starting
the premium services for attracting the high-end customers. The tactics used by the airline is
introducing the hospitality services for the improving the customer base (Tan, 2019). The
expansion into the international market is a great opportunity as it can help in reducing the
dependency of generating revenue from the home country only.
Threats – The covid-19 pandemic has decreased the revenue as the travelling was completely
stopped and even after the starting of the airlines they have to include many Standard Operating
Procedures (SOPs) for the prevention against covid-19. The competition in the market has
distributed the shares and shared with the other suppliers.

PESTLE Analysis
Political – The airlines are affected by the government policies of US and UK. The UK is
regulated by the EU regulations and effects the safety regulations, operator licensing, personnel
licensing and traffic lights. CAA oversees the safety standards, security issues, consumer rights
and environment for the airlines.
Economic – The uncertainty of the UK environment due to the announcement of the Brexit has
caused loss and became a disadvantage as it has slowdown the economy in UK. The uncertainty
has caused the impact on the profitability of airlines. The sustained growth and profitability of
airline is due to the strategic focusing on the customer experience and adaptability of the
business in changing economy.
Social – The airlines focus on the millennial because the travel habits are varied from the
previous generations and they spend more in the air travelling in the Western Markets. The
company is focusing on minimising the environmental impact and the operational efficiency.
The fear of the corona virus has also hit the airline hard.
Technological – The airlines has decided to invest in the technology for making the services of
higher efficiency and gain more profitability through that. The airlines are has decided to take
full advantage of the emerging technology by transforming digitally.
Environmental – The central concern of the regulatory authorities is the impact on the
environment by the airline industry (Bose, 2018). The British Airline has made the business
sustainable by making firm steps for minimising the environmental impact by reducing the
carbon foot print and increasing the fuel efficiency.
Legal – The legal factors are important concern for the airlines. Noncompliance results in major
fines for the airlines along with destroying the reputation of the brand. The airlines have to
follow the laws related to the labour, operational areas; security and environmental impact the
airline need to be in compliant with the overseas as well as domestic market.
Pestle factors influencing the opportunities and threats of the business
The opportunity of British Airways is in the expansion of the business in the international
market and expansion of premium services. The opportunities get influenced by the pestle factor
as the Brexit is causing uncertainty in the economy for operating the business, the laws of the
government while working in the expansion to the international market be challenging for the
airlines. The airlines have to deal with different laws related to the labour, security and

environment of the different countries in which it might expand the working. The pilot’s strike in
2019 has created challenge for the airline and tarnished company’s image along with the cases
that are related to the consumer rights, labour rights and passenger safety has caused disruption
to the company in form a fines. The damaged image of the company will create difficulty for
expanding in the international market.
The threats of the company are due to the competition in the market and due to the covid-
19 crises, the threats for the company can be reduced as the company is transforming digitally
this will make the airlines more efficient that in turn will improve the position of the company in
the market as compared to the other competitors (Ahmad and et.al, 2017). The transformation
will help in making the operations at the airlines touch free for the safety of the improved safety
of the customers and fulfilling all the Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and hence making
it easier for the company to follow the legal laws. The advancement in the technology at the
airlines helps the improving the fleet efficiency and improvement in the customer satisfaction for
the enhancing the revenue growth rate.
Strengths help in negating the threats and weakness affect the opportunities
The company by addressing the strengths was improving the safety at the airlines for the
passenger; the number of accidents as well as the incidents is reduced for the airlines along with
the hijacking attempts. The strength of the company is for its reputation for the safety that is
helping it to add the competitive advantages in the market against the competitors. The safety
reputation is maintained during the time of covid for the passengers and the staff so the threat of
reduction in the revenue collection during the pandemic is reduced. The strengths of the
company are helping the British Airways to negate the threats of the company.
The weakness of the British Airways is issues with the human resource of the company
and the engine of Rolls Royce. The company is also struggling with the issue of heavily
dependent on the local market for the revenue collection. The efficiency of the Rolls Royce
engine has decreased the punctuality of the British Airways in the market. The airlines have to
reduce the seats as well as have to reduce the number of flights (Srinivas and Rajendran, 2019).
This reduces the capability of expansion of the services in the market and the expansion of the
business in the international market. The HR of the organisation is the important part for
managing the operations at the company but the British Airways are having some problem while

operating the department and have to meet with some issues such as pilot’s strike that resulted in
the legal disputes for the Airlines.
Comparing and contrasting the styles of leadership
The leadership behaviour towards the group is called the leadership styles. The pattern in
which the leader reflects his role to the group of people is called the style. The leadership styles
are resulted from the experience, personality and philosophy of the leader in the value system.
The leadership style is divided into four types based on the authority:
Autocratic leadership
The leadership style is command, compliance, paternalism and arbitrariness along with it
relies on the coercion. The subordinates need to follow the orders given by the leader. The
policies are made for the group by the leader without informing the group and give the
immediate steps that need to be done. The leaders are benevolent autocrats.
Advantages – The advantage is of the speed for taking the decisions as the leader is not taking
approvals from the group before giving a decision.
Disadvantage – The group morale is not hurt by the leader of the group. The group member may
dislike the ways in which the decisions are made and this makes them give minimum support for
the work.
Democratic leadership
The leader uses the legitimate power in the democratic leadership. The orders are given
to the group after discussing it with the members of the group. The policies are made according
to the fact that they are discussed with the group and all have the acceptance for the policies.
Advantages – Helps in enhancing the morale (Pietsch and Tulowitzki, 2017). The acceptances
of the management ideas are improved. The corporation within the employees and management
is increased. The complaints and grievances are reduced.
Disadvantages – It is responsible for the slow decisions and dilution of the accountability of the
decisions. The best solution for the organisation can be compromised for pleasing everyone in
the group.
Free-rein leadership
This type of leadership style gives the employees the highest degree of freedom in the
operations. The leader abdicates the position of leadership and shares the responsibilities of the

work to the group that was supposed to be led by him. It is also known as the permissive style of
leadership.
Advantages – The group members are offered with the development opportunity. The group
members are provided with the chance to function independently as well as express themselves.
Disadvantages – The leadership style lack in the group cohesion as well as unity for meeting the
objectives of the organisation. The group may have a little control as well as direction without a
leader. The work may lead to have worse efficiency as well as chaos.
Paternalistic leadership
In this leadership style the leader assumes them to be in the role of fatherly as well as
parental functioning. The leaders following such leadership style are treating the relationship
between the group and the leader as the family and the leader is the head of this relationship. The
leader work in the group keep the members happy as family by helping, guiding and protecting.
The leader provides the group with the good employee services as well as working conditions.
The leadership was found to be successful in Japan due to their cultural backgrounds. The
employees under this leadership tend to work harder out of their gratitude (Bedi, 2020). If the
group members of the organisation are brilliant, have a desire to be ahead, highly educated and
perform the tasks with responsibility than the leadership can produce quick and good results. The
British Airways should follow this leadership style in the airlines.
Suitable leadership style for the British Airways
According to Airways, 2017, the British Airways has the variety of goals as well as
objectives for the long and short term survival in the global market for the competition. The goal
of the airline is to become the leading premium airline and they are trying to be through the
continuously focusing on the customer services at each level of the passenger’s journey. The
goal of the airlines is to divide into three main areas that are:
Global – making appealing for all the passengers and the customers will repeat the travelling for
the leisure as well as business traveling.
Premium – by ensuing that the passenger gets the best quality services where ever they use the
airline services.
Airline – maintaining the focus on the airlines by adopting the latest products, services and
equipment.

These types of the general goals can be fulfilled by using the combination of leadership
styles. The airline can adopt the combination of Democratic as well as Paternalistic leadership
for accomplishing the goals with the workforce.
As stated by the Al-Ansari, 2017, in the paper that the British Airways has five strategic
goals that are: being the top choice in the airline for the premium customer, international flights
along with the economy, cargo and shorter flights. The airlines provide quality services to the
customers on all the routes as well as all the classes of travel along with the improved online
services by focusing on the Terminal 5 at the Heathrow Airports. The airline becomes the key of
the city for the global growth by continuing to expand in the top-tier cities list by making
partnership with the airline. The airline expands its position in London by maintaining the world-
class hub at the Heathrow Airport as well as influencing to get support from the government
policies and airport owners. British Airways meet the needs of the customer by exploring the
enhanced and latest product as well as options for improving the loyalty of the customers.
The strategic goals of the airlines can be achieved by using the Free-rein leadership as in
this leadership the employees at the organisation are given the freedom for working in their own
ways and this improves the creativity and innovation in the working. The workforce know the
airlines for better and when they are provide with the right tools they can make the best use of
their powers for making the airlines accomplish the strategic goals of the airlines. The free rein
leadership provide the employees with the opportunity to grow and develop, the development of
the employees directly help the processing of the operation at the airlines. The employees are
given chance for expressing their opinions and this will help to give different ideas for help in
the accomplishing the various objectives provided above.
Corporate social responsibilities of British Airways
The British Airways have taken progressive approaches in the management of the carbon
emission for over 20 years and is the leader for tackling the climate changes. The airlines have
invested in fuel-efficient aircrafts, new technologies, made changes in the flying ways and
development on the sustainable fuel for delivering the commitments for the environment. The
airline is committed to the:
 IAG is the parent company of British Airways and it committed to achieve the zero
carbon emission by 2050 by different measures.

 The organisation is contributing to the net zero carbon economy by 2050 by the UK
government.
 The company invested $400m for the development of the sustainable aviation fuel.
The measures taken for reduction the carbon footprint are:
 The airline is investing in new aircrafts as well as operation of the aircrafts in efficient
ways along with advocating for the airspace modernisation.
 The airline invested in the development of the sustainable fuel initiative and started a
project where the commercial as well as household waste is turned into the renewable
fuel for jet.
 The airline is using the EU Emission Trading Scheme for funding in reducing the
emission in other sectors and the airline is investing in the rainforest protection as well as
renewable energy projects (Karami, 2017).
The airline has taken short term initiatives for saving fuel that are:
 The airline purchase lighter trollies for reducing the CO2 of up to 5000 tonnes. The saving
is equal to 300 return flights from London to Paris.
 2300 tonnes of CO2 is saved by replacing the flights manual with the tablets.
 3700 tonnes of CO2 is saved by operating single engine on the short-haul craft to runway
for the pre-flight.
 9100 tonnes of CO2 is saved by placing the light weight seats on the short-haul aircrafts.
That is equal to the 350return flights from London to Berlin.
 12000 tonnes of CO2is saved by maintaining the accurate inflight wind.
The airlines made medium–longer term initiatives for the sustainable aviation fuel by
committing for $400m for the development of alternative sustainable fuel in the next 20 years.
The airline becomes the first for powering the ten percent of the flight by the aviation fuel that is
sustainable.
The airline is at the front for developing of the waste to the fuels since 2010 and have the
conversation with the UK Government for using the waste-based fuel are included in the
Renewable Transport Fuel Obligation (RTFO) in 2018 in UK. The airline has partnership with
two aviation fuel companies that make sustainable fuel that are LanzaJet and Velocys.
The airlines make the initiative for the on board sustainability by making a target for
removing more than 700 tonnes of single use plastic form the on-board flights and that amount to

more than a quarter of the billion individual plastic items (Amankwah-Amoah, 2020). The airline
is working closely with the supplier for finding the alternatives to the single use plastic and the
airline come to achieve in reducing the following items:
 Swapping of the plastic stirrers with the bamboo alternatives.
 The reduction in the packaging plastic of Club World amenity kit.
 Swapping the plastic on the headsets. The headsets are place in the charity paper
envelops.
 The water bottles are made of the 50% recyclable plastic.
 The retail plastic bags are removed from the flight.
CONCLUSION
It can be conclude from the report that the strength of the airline is in their safety
regulations and the initiatives of reducing the carbon footprints. The weakness of the airline is
the decreasing punctuality due to the Rolls Royce engines and the working of the HR. The
opportunities are in the expansion of the services and expansion of the business in the
international market. The factor affecting the business of the airlines such as the political,
economic, social, technological, environment and legal factors are discussed. The opportunities
get influenced by the threats and the weakness of the business is discussed. Different leadership
styles are discussed such as Autocratic leadership, Democratic leadership, Free-rein leadership
and Paternalistic leadership. The corporate social responsibilities of the British Airways are
described.

REFRENCES
Books and Journals
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britishairways. com/travel/where-we-fly/public/en_gb/map [Accessed 13 November
2017].
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Multi-ethnic Working Environment (Doctoral dissertation, Anglia Ruskin University).
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environmental sustainability policies in the global airline industry. Journal of Cleaner
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Bedi, 2020. A meta‐analytic review of paternalistic leadership. Applied Psychology. 69(3).
pp.960-1008.
Bose, 2018. The strategic environment of the aviation industry in UAE: A case study on Etihad
Airways. IIUM Journal of Case Studies in Management. 9(1). pp.21-27.
Karami, 2017. Corporate strategy: evidence from British Airways plc. In The Changing Patterns
of Human Resource Management (pp. 46-64). Routledge.
Numanoğlu, 2020, April. STRATEGIC PRICING PRACTICES: RYANAIR EXAMPLE.
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Sveučilište u Dubrovniku.
Pietsch and Tulowitzki, 2017. Disentangling school leadership and its ties to instructional
practices–an empirical comparison of various leadership styles. School Effectiveness and
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Srinivas and Rajendran, 2019. Topic-based knowledge mining of online student reviews for
strategic planning in universities. Computers & Industrial Engineering. 128. pp.974-984.
Tan, 2019. CorporateMetrics Methodology Application for the Market Risk Quantification in
British Airways Company.