British Airways: Latin America

Although British Airways had been lagging behind other carriers in the region, in the opinion of the new general manager for Latin America, the company had the potential to be the leading European airline in Latin America. He believed the market had all the characteristics in which British Airways had traditionally been most strong. However, after six months of visiting all the offices in the region, he began to feel that some key country managers were not supporting the changes necessary to move the company ahead. Head Office in London was also skeptical. "Latin American is breaking even, so there is no real need to solve the problem," was one typical response. This case deals with efforts to implement major organizational change in a short period of time.