Strikes put BA, Heathrow and caterer in a tailspin

by Tom Williams, PR Week UK 19-Aug-05

Budget airline easyJet moved into the Reputation Monitor top five this week amid speculation that Icelandair parent FL Group would bid for the company.

Easyjet's fortunes contrasted with British Airways' tumble to the foot
of the table after images of stranded passengers were beamed around the
world. Gate Gourmet's dismissal of 660 staff made BA's caterer the

second-worst performer.

Heathrow Airport came third from bottom as the strikes were reported as
a devastating blow to the industry during its busiest, summer
period.

But supermarkets Asda and Tesco took first and second place respectively
after a flurry of coverage of new products and promotions.

Better than expected interim results made emerging markets bank Standard
Chartered the biggest gainer in the top five. Sainsbury's continued its
reputational fightback, poaching Matalan supply chain director Roger
Burnley and reaching fifth place in the chart.

BT slumped due to negative coverage of adverts for its anti-nuisance
call service. Reports on corporate pension fund exposure to stock market
failure also put an unwelcome spotlight on BT's pension fund
deficit.

Reputation Monitor is compiled from Thomson Intermedia's National News
Index, a measure of media sentiment that excludes stock market reports
and passing mentions.

REPUTATION MONITOR 9-15 August 2005
Ranking Rank last week Organisation NNI
Best performers
1 5 Asda 176.6
2 6 Tesco 131.6
3 11 easyJet 105.4
4 54 Standard Chartered Bank 98.5
5 18 Sainsbury's 90.1
Worst performers*
1 1,407 British Airways -403.6
2 n/a Gate Gourmet -354.2
3 n/a Heathrow Airport -45.7
4 1,377 BT Group -41.6
5 2 Marconi Corporation -30.8
Source: www.newsmetrics.co.uk/Thomson Intermedia plc *Rank last week is
position from bottom of table