British Airways admits the A350 cabin layout has failed

Cabin crew blog Paddle Your Own Kanoo has an interesting bit of news about the layout of the A350 and A380 fleets at British Airways.

During a Q&A with staff last week, it is reported that BA’s Director of Brand and Customer Experience, Tom Stevens, admitted that the A350 layout was not working.

Unwilling to sacrifice a single centimetre of sellable space, BA installed something called the ‘ICE Rear Galley’, with ‘ICE’ standing for ‘Increased Cabin Efficiency’. The design incorporates two ultra-slimline loos on either side of the galley, and a very small amount of space for the crew to work. British Airways also took out the standard galley at the second set of doors.

(There are oft-repeated stories, denied by the airline, that plans to use the A350 on the longest long haul routes had to be scrapped because of the inability to store the amount of food required.)

Stevens is reported as saying that ““it’s fair to say that some of the aircraft we have today were not designed to be crew friendly or service centric” with Club Suite service being a particular problem.

The bad news is that it is impossible, it seems, to easily change the aircraft that are already in service. British Airways is, apparently, talking to Airbus about making changes on the remaining A350 aircraft to be delivered.

In other news, Stevens apparently confirmed that the A380 fleet will be upgraded to Club Suite and have a new First Class suite installed. Cabin crew are apparently being involved in this process to avoid a repeat of the A350 issues.

You can find out more in the original article here.

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