British Airways has today premiered its new onboard safety video replacing the somewhat tired comedy-led video from quite a few years ago. It stars the airline’s colleagues, Britons going about their daily activities and some familiar faces, showcasing everything that makes Britain unique and truly original. It’s a perfect addition to the brand positioning, showcasing something we’ve felt has been missing as of late… a sense of cultural pride. While the interiors of the fleet are smart, they’re also not fully reflective of the diverse and colourful diaspora Britain.
The five-minute (somewhat hectic) film will be shown on the airline’s long-haul aircraft from 1 May 2023, and showcases British Airways colleagues from across the airline in their roles on the ground and in the air. One of the stars, British Airways engineer Carl Carpenter, drives across an engineering hangar while asking customers to unplug their devices, before his own vehicle comes to an abrupt stop. Cabin crew member Sima Patel-Pryke asks customers for their attention as the safety instructions may differ from other aircraft they’ve travelled on previously. In response, British rapper, Little Simz takes off her headphones, and remarks ‘What?!’
As well as shining a light on the airline’s incredible colleagues, the video also features some of the Great British public. When cabin crew member Emily Mae Jackson reminds customers that life jackets should not be inflated inside the aircraft, viewers see the instruction playfully taken out of situ with a real-life farmer near Dover and two fishermen on Deal beach in Kent all inflating their life jackets.
Calum Laming, British Airways’ Chief Customer Officer, said: “We have all sat through safety demonstrations before, so we knew we needed to create something different that would capture attention and was totally in line with our British Original positioning. We wanted this to be a real celebration of originality and for us, it is our people who – together with where we’re from – make us unique. That’s why it was important for us to hero so many of our amazing colleagues doing what they do each and every day for our customers and for each other. We also wanted to inject some wit and showcase Britishness, and all the quirks that put us on the map by shining a light on real life people – from fishermen and chip shop workers to friends hanging out, as well as some well known faces who help put Britain on a stage. So, seats in the take-off position and we hope you really enjoy our new safety video.”
The airline’s colleagues star alongside celebrities including Ncuti Gatwa, Little Simz, Robert Peston, Kaya Scodelario, Steven Bartlett, Emma Raducanu, chef Tom Kerridge and British Airways’ new uniform designer Ozwald Boateng. Interestingly, the airline has stated a second version will be released later on in the year with the new Boateng uniforms, which seems a lot of additional work for the production teams. Could it be that there is some internal discussion on whether to even roll out the uniforms after such a negative response to them? If not, why not simply launch the video with the new uniforms?
On top of the safety video, the airline is bolstering the Great British image, championing and showcasing British Originality across its customer experience, from its menus featuring the best of British cuisine, to its dedicated British Original in-flight entertainment channel, and is proud to show off the best of Britain.
Now our biggest question (and that of several others online) is who is the handsome Tom Hardy-esque male cabin crew?
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TheDesignAir 
Smart!!! well done!!