The Club sits down with the airline’s Chief Financial and Transformation Officer, José Antonio Barrionuevo, to discuss the changes you can look forward to during your booking and on-board experience. Plus, why his home team – Real Madrid – are his ultimate inspiration

José, what does your job entail?
I have a double role, really: transformation and finance, each of which take up roughly 50% of my time. As for the former, the Transformation Team and I are busy implementing our £7bn Transformation Plan, which we spent the second half of 2023 preparing. We have a number of initiatives as part of this and I’m pleased to say that we’ve now completed more than 300 of these – which is more than half of those in our plan. And we’re working on the second phase of the plan with greater focus on increasing productivity and efficiencies by using technologies like Artificial Intelligence.

And what about the finance side of things?
As CFO, the other half of my job is managing the day-to-day finance side of the business and making sure the transformation is delivering the financial results. Additionally, I need to keep a close relationship and coordination with our parent company, International Airlines Group, given that we are by far the largest company of the group. Fortunately, we both share a common vision of our future and ambition to place British Airways once again among the leading airlines of the world.

What are the dangers of not making changes?
Not making changes is not an option. That’s not only because our industry has altered drastically over the last few years (we had a very hard time during the pandemic – like all airlines), but also because our customers and investors want us to improve the way we operate. But, more importantly, our own colleagues ask for that change, as we all want to feel truly proud of the company we work for. 

Which initiatives are you most excited about?
All of them, really, as we have hugely transformational initiatives taking place in every area of the business. But most interesting for our Members is that they can look forward to plenty of improvements in our lounges (with a Global Lounge Concept debuting in Dubai next year), our cabins (we are looking forward to unveiling our new First product, for example) and our ever-growing fleet. We’re also changing ba.com and the British Airways app as part of our £7bn investment in a way that will put us way ahead of the competition.

We hear you’re a Real Madrid fan. Do you see any similarities between running an airline and a football team?
To me, there are many parallels. For instance, in airlines as in football clubs, you have a front-line team, which is the one that interacts with customers, and then you have a ‘hidden’ back office that efficiently supports that team.

Also, football clubs need a balance between the needs of the current season and the long-term view of the next years, which is quite similar to what we do. Finally, in both cases success comes from a combination of solid foundations, hard work and a winning mentality. I like to see British Airways like Real Madrid. We have the prestige, the history, the brand and the great supporters. And when we go through a rough patch, we show our character and winning mentality to win the game. And that’s something that only ‘institutions’ like British Airways and Real Madrid can do.

Any career advice you can share?
When I started out in the corporate world, my father told me: “Always surround yourself with smarter people than you.” It’s very important to create a team that offers a combination of skill and will – you must have both. I would also prioritise treating people with respect and an understanding that not everyone works in the same way. Finally, if you’re complacent, you’re getting nowhere. Every day, you need to put energy into positive transformation: work hard and shoot for the moon!

What would you like your legacy here to be?
I’m a family man, so first and foremost I want to be remembered as a good husband and father. Professionally, I’d like to be known as someone who has been integral to the transformation of this great airline, and someone who contributed to making it one of the best in the world.

You might have heard the news: we’re investing £7bn across our operations to improve the experience and service that we offer you, modernise our IT systems and increase our focus on sustainability. Find out more here.

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This article has been tagged BA, Culture