We’re a long way from Willie Walsh as CEO of British Airways. He now runs the international airline lobbying group IATA. His hand-picked replacement Álex Cruz came up from BA parent IAG’s low cost subsidiary Vueling, and ran the place like it skimping on basic IT services and charging for water (and $6 if you wanted your tea extra strong). Current CEO Sean Doyle has tried to claim that British Airways ‘is still premium’ but when you’re explaining you’re losing.
To be sure, British Airways serves a lot of premium cabin passengers with dense business class cabins and most long haul seats out of London Heathrow airport have suites with doors and direct aisle access finally.
However, connecting flights in what passes for British Airways business class in Europe (Club Europe) are sad, offering less legroom than Ryanair.
London Heathrow terminal 5 remains a suboptimal place to connect, transit security can be miserable and getting packed into a train to head to and from remote gates suboptimal. British Airways lounges aren’t as nice as competitor products.
And short haul catering still disappoints those used to European standards, but is better than what you’d see on a U.S. airline for similar-length flight.
It turns out that British Airways is still in cost-cutting mode. They just can’t help themselves. The latest is that they’re serving breakfast for lunch because it’s cheaper.
British Airways has decided to extend its normal breakfast service by introducing a new brunch service for flights that depart between 8:30 a.m. and 11:29 a.m. The obvious problem, of course, is that by the time flights have actually taken off and the service has started, passengers will no doubt be hankering for lunch.
If that is the case, passengers will be left wanting because the new brunch menu leans heavily on traditional breakfast offerings like omelets, pancakes, and fruit plates.
British Airways claims this is in response to customer feedback. They apparently managed someone in a focus group to spit out, “When I pay a premium for business class, what I really wish I could have is reheated egg mix at noontime.”
Here’s one report from a transatlantic westbound flight with lunch service starting at 1:50 p.m.,
The main course was bizarre. It came with baked beans. Substitute bacon for the chicken and it is a breakfast without eggs, What wine would you like with that sir? Err, I don’t normally drink wine with my breakfast! But it’s nearly 2 pm so I’ll have a glass of the Sauvignon Blanc.
And then after a sausage/mushroom/ hash brown/ baked beans breakfast, what better than a chocolate marble slice? Oh and maybe a coffee and a liqueur? Or at 2.30 pm, maybe a selection from our breakfast bakery?
The excellent in flight lead volunteered that no one had opted for the Belgian Waffles and so the crew were going to have those for lunch (take one for the team?) and he did wonder whether he was meant to offer port with the cheese starter before brunch.
Late British Airways departures are also seeing cutbacks. Outside of the longest flights to Asia, after 9 p.m. “main meal options [are] reduced to paninis, soup, and salads. Appetizers have been eliminated altogether and customers will will no longer have a choice of dessert.” British Airways says it is “goodnight” service. It makes you want to skip meal service and sleep so you don’t endure the flight. Which is good because BA boards fewer meals than they used to, too.
Guess it’s what happens when you essentially have no competition at Heathrow.
At least non-UK customers can largely avoid it.
BA doesn’t care what their customers say. The only way to correct this issue is not fly BA. If your going to the middle east or India fly through Istanbul or Dubai.
BA is a trash airline, and Heathrow is a trash airport, and BA adds insult to injury with their absurd redemption fees.
Complete over reaction to absolutely nothing. Breakfast for lunch? Who cares? There are worse things to worry about. They’re still serving a hot meal. Stop complaining like big babies!
Can someone explain to me the race to the bottom in both premium cabins (and at least in the US) devaluation of premium status?
Are the airlines being squeezed by the markets? Because if so, fine, just like with Boeing, bloodsucking Wall Street, with complicit C-suites, will run a company into the ground.
Is it truly necessary? Is there a way to revolt, protest, take business elsewhere? (Don’t answer that one).
To say that it’s frustrating is an understatement. Traffic is frustrating. This borders on theft of service, but in reverse.
I don’t think.i will be flying BA…they have become a cheap airline. Terminal 5 is now a nightmare to leave from. Last time I was there were not enough security guards. Unprofessional and rude attendants. Standards have dropped drastically!
Luckily I’m EU based, so … forget BA trash and, if you want Oneworld, take Qatar Airways, Finnair and even Iberia.
Ba is hemorrhaging customers so fast to the delight of its competitors.
I no longer us ba since it switched to club Europe for my opening leg it’s pointless pun intended. BA Gold used to be a real advantage but virgin flights come with club access an all together better option.
The number of premium passengers in London who connect in Dubai or Doha on the vastly superior airlines based there instead of taking BA is already staggering, and I can totally see why.
From London to Dubai there’s a staggering 11 (eleven) flights on Emirates, 81% of which are on the massive A380s, and from 3 airports. On British Airways? 3 (three) flights, only 33% of which are A380s, and all from 1 airport. From London to Doha, where BA and QR codeshare, there’s a single BA flight to QR’s 9 daily flights.
You’d figure that by now British Airways had learned that penny wise = pound foolish, but, alas, no.
I flew BA F recently from DFW to LHR and back to IAH recently. 82.5K Alaska points each way plus about $750/$950 in “taxes”.
I really enjoyed it. I got Flagship First dining at DFW (which a previous post here rated as potentially worth spending points on) and the food in the CCR at LHR was surprisingly excellent. There are currently no doors on the suites in F on that route but otherwise the seat was good and the service was 10/10. Would recommend.
A lot of the penny pinching in J on BA (such as charging for seat assignments) goes away when you book F and it’s not bad value. It’s certainly a much better experience than the zoo that is BA J and BA lounges. I bring back lots of goodies from my family in the UK so the extra 32 kg bag on it’s own is worth quite a bit to me.
Flew RT between SAN & LHR in World Traveler Plus. Was miserable on the outbound flight because the aging 777’s kept the cabin much too warm. Meals on the return flight were laughable and forgettable. Both were some kind of Indian food with chicken. It struck me that someone had to make a strong effort to be uncreative with meal planning.
What a nonsense article. BA business cabins are as good as competitors if not better. The food from Heathrow is really nice from Do & Co. Granted, the awful American processed food loaded in the USA return legs isn’t that good. As for leg room in European business, clearly the author is comparing apples and pears. Leg room is on par with other European and US carriers.
And the timings get even worse…on BA104 today in WT+ (Prem Econ) with 1205 departure time and menu is sausage, veal bacon (ethically challenging as well), mushroom, tomato and potatoes; Omelette, or Pancakes. I had breakfast 3 hours ago at a very leisurely 9am….most of flight will have done the same
Both BA at heathrow and Lufthansa at frankfurt monopolies have created a great disservice to customers. corruption at its finest.
@Ramsey – I’m glad you enjoy BA but you are simply way off on your facts to claim “Leg room is on par with other European and US carriers.” U.S. domestic first class is generally ~ 18 centimeters greater pitch than BA Club Europe
Any time dining is brought up the food is than compared to what one would get on a US airline. Is that the metrics every review is based on? Very trite.
Serving breakfast “brunch” that late is simply unacceptable. After having enjoyed breakfast at home and in the lounge, this will be the 3rd breakfast for many passengers. Virgin Atlantic, and frankly U.S. carriers, offer far more appropriate fare. I will avoid BA like the pest as long as they continue this nonsense.
British Airways had long ago decided to go downhill. It took place even before Pucci Galore had given up on being cabin crew for the airline. When BA decided to go cheap even on its lounge catering at LHR T5, that was a sign to me that BA had settled long-term on being a downmarket carrier not worthy of being paid a premium. That is unless stuck dealing with LondonAir as an LHR-originating/terminating passenger.
British Airways had long ago decided to go downhill. It took place even before Pucci Galore had made his decision to give up on being cabin crew for BA. When BA decided to go cheap even on its lounge catering at LHR T5, that was a sign to me that BA had settled long-term on being a downmarket carrier not worthy of being paid a premium. For those stuck dealing with LondonAir as an LHR-originating/terminating passenger, it’s sort of a different matter.
Meh, not that worried about BA food.
What does concern me is their awful on time performance and utter lack of interest in customer service: Rubbish App, T5 overcrowding and lousy transfer experience.
I want them to be better – but honestly after the last trip with them I wanted to hurt them…
I never understood why food and flying go together.
Turns out my previous comment is wrong…they just loaded the wrong menu cards!
The BA website is absolute garbage. Fields not updating, weird errors after you’ve typed in flyer i fo etc etc. Then when calling their support line in india they offer a price 3 times as high and even claim you get better prices online. What a complete shit show
Why is it called British Airways ? Better call it London Airways, virtually no flights overseas unless transitting London with all its problems and that’s saying something from
Manchester ! I’ve done with them now after losing my wife’s luggage despite a 3 hr layover in T5. I used to be Gold, I’ve persevered hoping it would improve but I give up now. With family in Dubai, you can guess who I will fly with now. As a former resident of Dubai, I am used to transitting many hubs and BA offering is rapidly becoming 3rd World.
AA is in bed with BA…caveat emptor.
Catering cost is easy to solve…preorder meals = no waste.
Flew 11 A380 flights last year so educated on product…
European/UK “domestic” Biz/First seating is the same for all carriers (Swiss, Lufthansa). The middle seat stays open. That’s all folks!~
It’s the worst airline who neither apologised nor refunded me a cent for bumping me from business class to economy . The difference is about R 30000 which seems like highway robbery to me
Wife and I flew BA #344 from LHR to Nice (France) on Oct. 3. Departure time = 12:10pm. Lunch was served, a hot meal with chicken and bangers (I guess you’d call ’em), plus at least one other option. Meal included a small salad, bread & butter, and an individual DO & CO dessert. And optional wine for a beverage.
The problem was … there were 14 rows (!) of Business Class seats. We were in row #11. Attendants first did a beverage service, which took some time … but it’s only a ~90 min flight. So, by the time they got around to coming through bringing the hot meals to anyone behind about row #8, we were already starting our descent into Nice. As a result, when we got our food service, we had literally about 5 minutes, barely enough time to get the packaging open and see what we had on the tray before they had to begin picking up everything. So most of my nice lunch meal was never eaten. (I did get a quick bite, and it was hot. That part of the service was commendable.)
It would seem elementary that if you’re going to serve a hot meal to so many rows in Business, on such a short flight, you’d combine beverage and meal service in one pass through the cabin, and then refill beverages as necessary. But no, not on this trip on BA. Don’t know who to blame, BA or bad decisions by the flight attendants. Anyway, at least it wasn’t “breakfast” being served at mid-day.
Can’t say as I’ve ever seen such a small plane (A321Neo) set up for 14 (!) rows of Business class seating. Seemed a bit odd, but who am I to question the wisdom of their seat allocation? Apparently they sold that many seats (although some rows were only occupied by one person).
Another annoyance was that even for those paying $ for the trip like ourselves, we could not pre-book seats, without paying more. So, there we were, plunked down in row #11. At least we got assigned seats together, 11 D & F. Just would seem that paying for premium seats like that ought to enable one to pre-select your own seat. I’m thinking they don’t want to confirm too many assigned seats too early, because they’re still seeing how many seats (total) they can sell, and then figure out the seating.
@Josh
I fly through Frankfurt on about 12 flights per year. Wonderful experience. Catering for European flights on biz is excellent. Flight crews are super. Intercontinental flights on FC are also up to snuff.
Senator and FC lounges are excellent.
Not sure where you have problems.
I flew fairly recently on British airways transatlantic economy class and three out of the four meals I had on board were excellent. Actually better than any meals you could find in restaurants in the Orlando area, which is perhaps not saying much.
The connecting flight to and from London Gatwick to Crete was another story. They had a very nice snack menu, but they didn’t actually have any food on board, except for scones and jam, so passengers who had flown overnight had to wait until 9:00 p.m. to eat unless they wanted to pay an arm and a leg for a bottle of water and a cracker at Gatwick airport. (Incidentally I saw a pair of flip flop sandals for sale in Gatwick airport for 35 pounds, which I estimated to have a retail value of about $2.)
British Airways can put together a very good meal if they put their minds to it, but customer service is really not the English way, and passengers travel in quiet desperation.
As I mentioned above I recently flew from Orlando to London and back in economy. The legroom really wasn’t too bad even though I am over 6 ft, and at least I didn’t die even though I have a history of a deep vein thrombosis. What more can you ask for?
The most annoying thing on the flight was the repeated endless commercials for a St Kitts passport for a quarter of a million dollars every time you changed the TV program or video. Surely they should keep this tiresome aggravation for business class travelers
The LHR-AUS BA nonstop is the reason to select BA for me. Plus being able to select a 22 hour stopover in LHR and having fish & chips at Three Magpies on Bath Road. Other than that BA makes AA look good even when flying AA and clearing immigration at DFW or ORD.
This story IS SO TRUE!
Did a Gatwick flight to P.O.S.. Was the worst meal ever!! Seating was so uncomfortable, hostesses do their best to avoid eye contact so a good way to ignore you. Was so hungry as I had to check in at 6.00am. Were late boarding, we had powdered eggs around 11.30am
BA and premium??!! It cannot even manage a basic thing like Baggage handling. We had our worst experience with BA this year in June. They left our baggage at London airport. We got them five days later that too after personally following up with the courier agent they hired for the job. Customer service is non existent. Our claims are pending till date, there is zero transparency and no communication at all.
Flew premium economy between DFW / LHR/ MAA . Can’t wait to try Cathay next year. Premium Economy was a complete bust … especially on the upper deck. Couldn’t even shove a handbag under the seat in front. LHR was at its very worst in terms of sullen, unhelpful staff. The food…..the huge mixup between people who had opted for vegetarian….and were being served some kind of powdered egg omelets….and being told …look there is no cheese in it love, you’re fine!
Or worse chicken biriyani….though chicken as a vegetarian option truly boggles the mind. The menu options were no options at all really. Plus at check in at Dallas, 2 counters were open for economy and premium economy. This is a double decker A 320. Flight was chock full. Out of the two staff, one was a grumpy middle aged woman, the other a total novice as sweet as she was..
Watching check in at Lufthansa and Turkish Airlines next to us proceed smoothly was galling.
A double decker A330? Cool! lol
Joking aside, I agree BA really needs to step up their game.
Thanks for a well written article, Gary. It’s sad to see the depths to which BA has sunk. I remember fondly the golden years of trans-Atlantic VC10 flights, when the service (and legroom) in Economy far exceeded what passes for Business Class today.
As with any product, we have a choice. Though it may feel good to contribute to the vitriol in the comments section, the ultimate protest is with your wallet.
I suppose the convenience of BA’s nonstops between LHR and AUS or SAN outweigh this approach, though I think Delta’s Delta One Business Class – including a smooth assisted connection through ATL – is quite pleasant by today’s standards.
Apologies – in my above comment, I should have specified that the service, legroom and seating comfort in Economy aboard BA’s VC10s of old surpassed BA’s Club Europe offered today.
I suppose I’ll accept the argument in support of Economy Class seating for Business Class travel being acceptable – to Europeans at least – because Intra-European flight sectors are often quite short.
However, BA still flies it’s awful A320s on the five hour flight to Amman. At the very least, a few of the A320s and 321s should be reconfigured to provide a proper 2×2 cabin for longer flights, including intra-European sectors such as LHR to FCO or ATH.
Love Cathay, JAL, ANA. BA is crap.