Brunchgate – aggressive BA service cuts resume

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• TimM says:

  21 Oct21 October 10:42

  When I was a student at University College Durham, which is famously housed in Durham Castle, their economics were similar – their income was fixed per head by the Government, most outgoings were fixed but maintenance of an old castle was high so what was cut? Food and heating. I gave up on breakfast (dip a bowl into a barrel of cornflakes) but Saturday ‘tea’ (‘dinner’ for those not acquainted with the Northern vernacular) was especially grim – chips and a packet of crisps in the cold and dark. At least we got reconstituted meat on formal nights.

  Catering is where I think most airlines have lost their way. If it is included then it is paired back to the bone to save costs. If it is paid-for, the necessary choice takes ten times as much crew time to serve it plus lots of disappointed passengers when they cannot have their first choice.

  Royal Dutch Airlines did a magnificent job in this regard on my recent trip via Amsterdam to Bergen. In business it was a binary choice of meal or no meal. I was surprised at the number of passengers refusing the meal – until I got mine. Four meals in total over the return trip, all of them indescribably unpleasant. The menu card was delivered in the same box as the meal so you could study it, post-mortem.

  Airlines forever cut back on the quality-of-life aspects when these are the things people are willing to pay extra for and upon which airlines are judged. No-one appears to focus on the end-to-end customer experience. Of course UK airports have to take a huge amount of blame there.

  • David says:

    21 Oct21 October 12:25

    Back in the late 70’s I really enjoyed breakfast at Collingwood College!

• SG says:

  21 Oct21 October 10:49

  How ridiculous. It’s like BA are trying to push frequent flyers in the direction of their competitors.

  • Russell G says:

    21 Oct21 October 14:14

    Its ok, their competitors also push back pretty hard too! ;-D

• George K says:

  21 Oct21 October 10:55

  I am heartened by Rob’s confidence that this will be all over by Christmas, but I have to say I am not so optimistic. Once again, BA has played the ‘customer feedback’ card, and if history has taught us anything is that previous enhancements are only reversed after a considerable amount of time, and usually after some sort of personnel shuffle.

  I hope I’m wrong. But there’s no doubt that all this is wrong to begin with.

  • JDB says:

    21 Oct21 October 11:03

    Yes, I’m surprised about the idea that it will change by Christmas as the lead times for all aspects of catering are usually rather longer. The problem is that there probably has been customer feedback that has led to this but that feedback has been a lot of very general negative feedback but very little useful, detailed feedback, so they are trying something different. My biggest issue with current menus is that the food is defectively prepared (any normal purchaser should simply reject the food as not meeting its description) and service of that food far too erratic.

• Johnny Tabasco says:

  21 Oct21 October 11:03

  Stuff like this makes me wonder if BA are actively trying to sabotage (what’s left of) their reputation for one reason or another.
  It’s just so ridiculous and when the inevitable reversal comes it will have been nothing but an initiative that has wasted time and money, and most of all, customer faith.
  Is anyone ever accountable ?

  • JDB says:

    21 Oct21 October 11:10

    I think people should wait to try the new menus. One of the problems of BA’s menus is that they choose items that simply cannot be prepared properly in the air – the cited three F main courses – grilled lamb rack, chicken wellington, grilled halibut and shrimp sauce are impossible, with the best will in the world, the best equipment etc. to be any good once on board. A simpler offering might actually work a whole lot better. One of the better things I have had on BA F was shepherd’s pie which was fairly OK and something susceptible to reheating. I fear that pax say they want ‘fancier’ food but that’s a big mistake.

    • Mark says:

      21 Oct21 October 11:37

      Erm, the chicken wellington was really very good when I had it.

      • JDB says:

        21 Oct21 October 11:50

        If you are happy with reheated pastry that simply cannot be served in its intended state on an aircraft and poorly sourced overcooked chicken it’s just fine. It’s utter madness on their part to offer dishes that cannot be well executed in the restrictive conditions.

        • meta says:

          21 Oct21 October 16:21

          Other airlines manage fancier and healthier food. F food should be restaurant quality and they should engage Michelin star chefs to prepare it.

          I don’t buy that it’s impossible given the number of routes. lncrease the F ticket by £50 and no-one will bat an eyelid. But BA is obviously incompetent or so stuck up and full of themselves that they can’t see this. They should act more humble really.

        • Londonsteve says:

          23 Oct23 October 23:22

          Agreed, Meta. Turkish Airlines managed to serve excellent food in all classes, even in economy. And let’s be perfectly clear, this is First we’re talking about, it’s supposed to be the pinnacle of commercial flying. I appreciate BA can’t/won’t meet the standards of the world’s best and are often a lot cheaper on a certain route, but a restaurant quality meal in First (and I’m not talking Michelin starred, merely of the quality I might receive in a local restaurant) is the bare minimum expectation in that class. A lot of experienced and talented people are employed the world over to create menus that fly well and respond positively to being chilled then reheated in the on board ovens. Ironically, despite this supposed new focus on breakfast, egg is certainly not one of them.

• Dave says:

  21 Oct21 October 11:08

  Genuine question – is there nothing safe from the accountants at BA?

• Super Secret Stuff says:

  21 Oct21 October 11:18

  How many flights are actually affected? I think they’ll back down pretty quickly, suspect the negative press and cost of handling complaints alone will out weight the savings

• Nick P says:

  21 Oct21 October 11:18

  As I have choice on who I fly with, if this lasts, then I am off.

  • Russell G says:

    21 Oct21 October 14:22

    I’ve been reading comments like this for years, yet why does reward availability never get better. I think the reality is people like to complain about BA, but rarely defect as the TATL competitors are all worse.

    • meta says:

      21 Oct21 October 16:24

      Yes, there isn’t a critical mass of defectors to make any meaningful change.

• Martin says:

  21 Oct21 October 11:29

  BA just refuse to ‘get it’ already I select anyone but BA – especially if it’s the old Club World configuration- still too many flights offer this. Just compare the food quality and choices when flying first on Cathay, JAL or Qatar to BA FIRST. It’s staggering to think they are about to further degrade the offerings.

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