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Is British Airways disguising food and drink cost cuts as health measures? Let’s compare.

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We have given British Airways a fairly easy ride over its in-flight service standards in recent weeks.  There were a number of reasons for this:

the very fact that BA is running any long haul passenger services is a good result compared to many other airlines

we haven’t been flying ourselves and we try to minimise articles based on third party feedback

other airlines hadn’t settled down into routines of their own

the only people flying long-haul are those who had to travel, and food would not have been top of their priority list

However, I think we’re now past the inflection point in terms of travel demand.  This means that it is time to ask whether British Airways is just disguising cost cutting in the name of ‘health’.

EDIT: Since this article was published, British Airways has announced improved temporary coronavirus catering – see here.

If you fly British Airways Club World or First Class at present, this is what you will get to eat and drink:

British Airways food and drink during coronavirus

A bottle of Harrogate spring water, plus ….

British Airways food and drink during coronavirus

…. a cold sandwich (not as attractive as this one), plus ….

British Airways food and drink during coronavirus

…. lovingly served in a plastic bag which is hooked on the back of your seat waiting for you when you board.

To be fair, there are stories of reheated pizza slices in a cardboard box on flights over 10 hours, so you MIGHT get something warm.  The images I’ve seen are not pretty though.

Don’t get too excited by the four-finger Kit Kat.  A reader sent me a photo from his First Class flight from Los Angeles last week and he only received two fingers, which seems appropriate in some ways.  He did get the congealed reheated pizza slice as well though.

If you think this is normal in the current climate, think again.

Emirates, Etihad and Qatar Airways are serving their standard onboard food.  Qatar Airways and Etihad have, admittedly, moved to a ‘single tray’ service but the product itself is unchanged.  What about the European airlines though?

Lufthansa first class food and drink during coronavirus

What is Lufthansa currently offering onboard?

If you think that the Middle Eastern airlines are not a fair comparison for some reason, let’s look at Lufthansa.

Here are Lufthansa’s revised service standards in Business and First Class for flights until the end of August.

Short haul Lufthansa business class:

Standard service, including special meals

(In case you’re wondering, British Airways currently offers Club Europe passengers a bottle of water and a small packet of shortbread.  What is amusing is that the shortbread is BA’s idea of ‘luxury’ to justify the extra £200 or so on the ticket price.  Passengers in Euro Traveller only receive a pack of pretzels with their bottle of water.  There are occasional sightings of bags of crisps and biscuits.)

Long haul Lufthansa business class:

Standard service, except that there are no regionally themed menus depending on route

Paper menus continue to be available, and there is a choice of three main courses including the hot options

Long haul Lufthansa First Class:

Standard service – the same menu as usual BUT the caviar trolley no longer rolls down the aisle (here is a photo of mine from 2017, the photo above is my dessert from 2017):

Lufthansa first class food and drink during coronavirus

and

Lufthansa first class food and drink during coronavirus

It is worth noting that Virgin Atlantic WILL be serving hot meals in both Economy and Upper Class when it restarts passenger flights next month.

However, if you do need to travel long-haul First Class over the next 2-3 months, remember that you DO have a choice.  There is either the Lufthansa caviar selection and full standard menu (and standard beverage service) or your British Airways plastic bag with a sandwich, Kit Kat, bottle of water and no alcohol.  Think carefully …..

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Comments (183)

This article is closed to new comments. Feel free to ask your question in the HfP forums.

  • GaryC says:
    10 Jun10 June 07:25

    It’s possible that BA’s existing supply chains for onboard premium catering are disrupted, and it’s simply not viable to seek alternatives. But even if this is the case, I expect BA are not trying very hard…

    • meta says:
      10 Jun10 June 07:34

      I am not sure entirely how catering supplies works with airlines, but I imagine their stock of alcohol is sitting somewhere. I mean if I can buy LPGS off the shelves, so can BA. I also wouldn’t be surprised if they resold it.

      • Mark says:
        10 Jun10 June 07:38

        Brewdog are selling off all the Speedbird IPA that would have normally found its way on board/into the lounge!

        • Alex Sm says:
          10 Jun10 June 17:45

          I bought some in March but now it’s not available! Either sold out or they restarted supplying BA

      • AJA says:
        10 Jun10 June 09:27

        I used to work at LSG several years ago. The alcohol and all “duty free” items are held in bonded warehouses under the control of the airline catering company. They are usually loaded in airline carts along with the catering and other supplies (toilet rolls, pillows, blankets etc) and delivered to each aircraft up to an hour before the scheduled departure time.

        The champagne is definitely stored somewhere but it won’t necessarily be owned by BA. The airline will have a cut-off of 6 hours prior to scheduled departure time to cancel or change that flights catering. If the airline gives 6 hours notice then there is no charge to the airline, if 4 hours notice is given then 1/3 of the agreed cost is charged, anything under 4 hours the airline is fully charged but even then the products do not become the airline’s property.

        • meta says:
          10 Jun10 June 13:16

          Still it’s then no excuse to say supply chains are broken, so we can’t serve alcohol. Not even one drink.

          • AJA says:
            10 Jun10 June 16:50

            To be fair to BA I don’t think have they actually said that alcohol isn’t available because of supply chain issues.

    • Andrew says:
      10 Jun10 June 07:37

      And it’s funny how every other airline has managed to find a suitable supply chain – even those also flying out of LHR, like QR and EK etc. I’m sure Do&Co won’t be saying sorry BA, all we can offer is a clingfilmed sandwich, a kitkat and a bottle of water.

      • AJA says:
        10 Jun10 June 09:57

        BA agrees the catering service with the caterer. It is up to BA what they choose, guided by the caterer. Do&Co will not be happy with BA as the current catering service must be hammering their revenue.

  • Andrew says:
    10 Jun10 June 07:25

    I’m booked on CX First early next year – hoping service is back to its high standard. Apparently no blankets or pillows are provided at the moment which I don’t really understand as surely they are all washed.

    • Andrew says:
      10 Jun10 June 07:46

      But the crisp white duvet covers in First must surely be washed and pressed.

      • Andrew says:
        10 Jun10 June 08:09

        My experience is that the newspapers still have the folds in them in First.

      • Doug M says:
        10 Jun10 June 09:15

        Mine is, I always have my butler do it on board before I touch it, had to give him a good flogging a couple of times to get it right, but he soon learnt.

        • Anna says:
          10 Jun10 June 09:48

          Does your butler travel in economy? Like the family featured in one travel article who asked for the nanny to be allowed into the F or J cabin to entertain the children while the parents ate!

        • Doug M says:
          10 Jun10 June 09:58

          If I was crew I’d absolutely forbid that just to pain them for such meanness. Surprised people like that don’t put the kids in economy with the nanny to begin with.

        • Anna says:
          10 Jun10 June 11:31

          I think plenty of them do that!

  • Martyn Fletcher says:
    10 Jun10 June 07:26

    A budget airline at premium prices! The little food BA gives you will be served by thoroughly demoralised staff who have had to accept a reduction in wages in order to keep a job at a time when jobs are hard to come by. Disgusting treatment of customers and staff by BA

  • BJ says:
    10 Jun10 June 07:49

    Talking about health for real now….what happens if you have dietary requirements and order a special meal on BA, do they just remove the sandwich and KitKat from the bag?

    • Peter K says:
      10 Jun10 June 08:13

      The recent email from BA basically said no special meals are being served at the moment so make sure you bring something to eat with you!

      • meta says:
        10 Jun10 June 08:35

        If I bring my bottle of LPGS will they supply me with a champagne flute? 😂

        • Andrew says:
          10 Jun10 June 08:41

          Only if you manage to find a 100ml bottle of it, to get through security.

          • Anna says:
            10 Jun10 June 09:51

            You could decant it into several smaller containers but it might be a bit flat (and warm) by the time you got to drink it. I never have an issue taking miniature spirits in hand luggage.

  • Harry T says:
    10 Jun10 June 07:55

    I have a 241 booked in BA F for December and I’m cancelling if they are still pulling this shite nearer the time. I didn’t understand how they expect anyone to pay for business or first if they can’t be bothered to make any effort.

    • CV3V says:
      10 Jun10 June 10:05

      you just reminded me of a Kevin Bridges sketch on the difference between sh!t and sh!te (its on youtube), you used the correct spelling.

      I have a 241 booked with them in Dec too, and i hope for a return to normality by then, if not, i wont let it ruin my travel plans perhaps the crew in Business will let me reheat some leftovers i take on board.

    • AJA says:
      10 Jun10 June 12:36

      Harry The trouble is that the food served on board is only part of the overall offering you’re paying for. You are still getting a superior seat. That said I’d be more concerned that I wasn’t getting the ground amenities as well. Your option is to downgrade or stay in First, fly and then complain afterwards and hope for some compensation as a goodwill gesture. Also I think that I’d be more worried that I won’t even fly (I think you mentioned before that you are flying First to South Africa?) I think unless the SA govt changes their current plans to only open up the tourism economy in Feb 2021 you will find you won’t be flying anyway.

      • Radiata says:
        10 Jun10 June 14:58

        My thoughts exactly on SA given the stricter approach there. I was due there in late May and again once or twice in the latter half of the year but have held off even booking December as yet. A friend in the property business who visits clients one or more times monthly is not hopeful of flying out and returning unhindered until Q1 2021.

  • Aislinn says:
    10 Jun10 June 07:57

    In an email from BA last week encouraging customers to fly again, they said they would be offering a “reduced menu” and not catering for special dietary requirements. I have a serious egg allergy so tended to order the vegan menu on long haul as a precaution (I am not vegan but it is best way to avoid eggs!). So yet another reason I won’t be flying this year.

    • Rachel R says:
      10 Jun10 June 09:37

      Vegan should be the default options – then almost everyone can eat it. Don’t see why a few meat eaters can’t forgo animal flesh on a flight rather than vegans and people with religious needs starving.

      • paul says:
        10 Jun10 June 09:47

        Absolutely not!……You eat what you wish but please allow me the same courtesy to eat what I wish.

        • Rachel R says:
          10 Jun10 June 11:16

          But there’s no choice for anyone! So why should meat be the default choice, when it clearly restricts people with religious and other needs.

          • illuminatus says:
            10 Jun10 June 12:29

            Simply because humans are omnivores, and meat is the reason we have been able to survive.

          • J says:
            10 Jun10 June 12:53

            The high quantity of meat in the modern diet is unnatural though, as well as unhealthy.

          • JK says:
            10 Jun10 June 16:05

            I don’t eat bread, but that is no reason to expect what is essentially a minority dietary requirement to impact all passengers. If you start to consider every passengers dietary needs to cover all bases, then it would be impossible to have any type of food included.
            Which isn’t far off where we are at already, admittedly, but still…

      • Andrew says:
        10 Jun10 June 12:54

        As long as it was a Chlorophyll free vegan menu.

        I have a colleague and his two sons who suffer various levels of intolerance and allergies to Chlorophyll.

    • Paul says:
      10 Jun10 June 09:50

      Its a reason not to fly BA this year certainly, but as Rob’s article clearly makes out it is not the same with quality carriers.

      There are a great many other reasons why you should avoid BA beyond the current pitiful service

  • Nick_C says:
    10 Jun10 June 08:07

    From a purely practical point of view, if I did have to fly long haul right now in business class, it would be anyone other than BA, as other Airlines’ J cabins provide social distancing as standard.

    Sitting facing a stranger in Club World? No thanks!

    • Andrew says:
      10 Jun10 June 08:15

      Indeed, CW (excluding CWS) is less socially distanced than economy – with the screen down you’re literally face to face which is the worst position to be in, side by side in economy is better than that. They better hurry up and retro-fit CWS if they want to be able to have more than one passenger per pair of seats.

      • Heathrow Flyer says:
        10 Jun10 June 09:48

        Just keep the divider up?

        • CV3V says:
          10 Jun10 June 09:50

          i thought safety regs prevented this for take off and landing? (that said i have had BA crew put the divider up once boarding was complete)

          • Mawalt says:
            10 Jun10 June 11:59

            Some cabin crew members insist on it being down until the seat belt sign. This is, of course, not accurate as per the signage on the blind itself (“during safety briefing”)

        • Genghis says:
          10 Jun10 June 10:38

          Only the safety briefing. After that, straight up and left up.

  • Peter says:
    10 Jun10 June 08:12

    Is BA now the long haul arm of Vueling?

    • ChrisBCN says:
      10 Jun10 June 09:02

      The sandwiches and service are a lot better on Vueling.

    • Julian says:
      10 Jun10 June 10:06

      I thought Cruz had invented Level for those who want to fly Vueling long haul………..

      • ChrisBCN says:
        10 Jun10 June 12:47

        Vueling is flights to Spain only… Level does both short haul and long haul and has more hubs in Europe than BA.

    • Mawalt says:
      10 Jun10 June 12:01

      I did not realise how good Ryanair was until I flew Vueling after our corporate travel management company booked it under a BA codeshare thinking it was BA. Longest ever flight from Barcelona to London.

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