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Brunchgate – aggressive BA service cuts resume

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We have been sceptical about the ‘£7bn investment programme’ from British Airways, because when we peered behind the curtain we struggled to see anything there.

Whilst replacing life-expired assets is, of course, ‘investment’, it isn’t the same as taking pro-active steps to improve the customer experience.

One example is the new, bigger overhead bins being installed on new short-haul aircraft deliveries. These are great, solving cabin baggage issues at a stroke. However, is BA spending money on retro-fitting them to its existing aircraft as many other airlines have done? No.

Brunchgate - aggressive BA service cuts resume

The biggest structural issue with the airline business is that most of your costs are fixed. Fuel costs are fixed. Aircraft leasing costs (or debt repayments) are fixed. Staff numbers are set by law and pay scales are fixed in the medium term. Whilst it seems petty to start attacking the in-flight food budget, it is one of very few levers to pull.

From 15th October, two new measures have been introduced. One is just crackpot. Both are cost cutting.

Breakfast …. for lunch

BA has introduced a brunch service to all long haul flights departing between 8.30am and 11.29am.

Whilst the logic here is obviously a bit crazy in theory …. passengers departing at 11am have almost certainly had breakfast in the lounge if not at home …. it is even crazier in practice.

Since food service cannot start until the aircraft is at cruising altitude, anyone at the back of Club World won’t be getting fed until around 1.30pm. Just the time for a cheap airline breakfast.

Even more bizarrely, the rest of the menu is unchanged. You get an appetiser. You get a dessert. You are offered wine with your meal.

I don’t know how many people have eggs on sourdough paired with wine, followed by a cheeseboard or chocolate tart, for breakfast at home ….

Brunchgate - aggressive BA service cuts resume

The new First Class menu

As an example, the 11.20am New York JFK flight was previously offering the following main course options in First Class for your post-take off meal:

  • grilled lamb rack
  • chicken wellington
  • grilled halibut and shrimp sauce
  • vegetarian kofta in korma sauce 

It now offers:

  • chicken / sausage / mushrooms / hash browns
  • prawn salad
  • poached egg on sourdough
  • pancakes

It’s even weirder when you see the full menu. This is what is now served in First Class if you depart before 11.29am:

  • amuse bouche (a cut from the previous selection of canapes)

followed by your choice of:

  • smoked salmon
  • roasted artichoke
  • butternut squash and coconut soup

followed by one of the breakfast dishes listed above, followed by:

  • chocolate tart
  • fresh fruit

followed by a cheeseboard.

Based on feedback from a friend of mine who spoke to the crew, not a single passenger on his flight in First had the pancakes and no-one in Club World had the waffles.

Brunchgate - aggressive BA service cuts resume

The new Club World menu

If you’re in business class, here is a typical brunch menu – it is actually called ‘The Great British Brunch’ on the menu.

A choice of appetisers from:

  • a fruit plate
  • smoked salmon
  • goat’s cheese and grilled artichoke
  • cheese and crackers

followed by

  • chicken / sausage / mushrooms / hash browns
  • cheese frittatta
  • Belgian waffles

followed by

  • chocolate marble slice (no alternatives)

followed by coffee and liqueurs.

It’s just weird.

The upside is that it will probably be scrapped before Christmas, so if you want to try it out I recommend you book now.

Interestingly, one person on Flyertalk who complained about his Club World brunch has been offered real money in compensation (well, a BA voucher, but near enough to cash). The amount was described as ‘generous’.

In a second article tomorrow we’ll look at the cuts to food service in Club World and First Class for flights departing after 9pm.

PS. Don’t forget that, if you are looking for good business class food, Qatar Airways has just introduced a caviar service on flights from many airports including London. This is on top of the existing meal service.

Qatar Airways introduces caviar in Business Class

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Comments (366)

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

  • RichardS says:

    I’m fine with the baggage thing. At least (currently) BA do not charge for a piece of hold luggage like US airlines are these days – just like cheap budget airlines. The food thing though? I expect a decent meal on a long haul flight if I’m in Club. It’s one of the perks, getting a menu of decent food options to choose from. It’s one of the reason I choose British Airways above others.

  • Trickster says:

    Flying to New York in CW between Christmas and New Year. Hoping and expecting this to be replaced by so me Christmas menus by then.

  • James says:

    Does HfP now finally feel a bit foolish for drinking all the kool-aid back in March at the BA customer event?

    5+ articles repeating with little critical analysis the amazing £7bn investment on… new lounges in 5 years with no pictures? A new app and website this summer? A seat trim colour update, removal of power sockets, and bigger bins on 3 aircraft? GGL as its own tier and new 5,000 TP reward?

    Those articles haven’t aged well and BA has played the media quite well for a change.

    • JDB says:

      @James – I think HfP has always been relatively cool on BA but did until more recently have offered an overly rosy view of Virgin and believed a lot of rubbish spouted by Shai.

    • Rob says:

      Go back and read those articles from the first week of March. It’s just us repeating what was announced. Even then we were questioning why the overhead lockers were not being retrofitted.

      There’s nothing wrong with anything announced at that event – the new short haul cabins are smart, the lounge mock-ups do look good etc – but this is just replacement capex of life expired assets.

    • Johnny says:

      Client journalism results in hyperpositive coverage shocker

      • Rob says:

        Which client would that be? BA is 1.6% of our revenue this year. 98.4% comes from elsewhere. It’s a rounding error that doesn’t pay our email bill.

  • Sue Hirst says:

    Having recently flown to San Diego from Heathrow I witnessed how AWFUL THE FOOD IS !! They had run out of most meals and were offering curry or curry . No tea or coffee for 11 hour flight machine was broken !!! Awful starter WHAT IS IT ? have had it on lots of flights recently is it coscos but it’s vile ..!!! Service was slow and no pretzels gave out these crunchy teeth looking snack awful experience for 11 hours !!!

  • Andy says:

    Sounds delicious just a shame there isn’t an option for prawn cocktail as dessert. WTF are they thinking. Some newly promoted clown changing things for changes sake and all the lower level arse kisses to scared to say “what a ludicrous idea”

    • meta says:

      Just ask to replace marie rose sauce with chocolate sauce from the waffles :))

  • Dubious says:

    1. I wonder if this gives some kind of bulk-buy discount on the catering, where more flights with the same meal (genuine morning flights and now everything up to 31 minutes to midday) = lower complexity = lower cost to procure??

    2. Due BA use free-range eggs in all their meals? (I believe they use to, at least in Club World, but I am curious is that is still the case if they are cutting costs).

    3. I do think that airlines should look at meal service at the destination time-zone though, and remove aware from a default ‘must start serving as soon as we depart’ approach.

    I flew on a direct flight from Europe to Thailand recently (not on BA), departing around 9pm European time (2am in Thailand). The crew agreed to serve my first meal (‘dinner’) a few hours later into the flight because I really wanted (and needed) to get straight to sleep, have a few hours kip and then wake-up around morning time at the destination to have breakfast. The crew agreed and I had my ‘dinner’ around 8am Thailand time. Ironically the second meal was a small ‘breakfast’ and served around 11am…

    It worked out well and I adjusted to the time-zone much quicker, and spent more of my tired phase on the flight rather than at the destination, but it was only possible thanks to the crew’s flexibility (I was not flying BA)…

    • Ken says:

      When it comes to free range eggs, the term is largely meaningless.
      75% of retail eggs sold in UK are free range.

      It means they must have access to outside but are frequently still in a barn all day , 9 birds to a square metre.
      Still better than battery cages though.

    • John says:

      This needs to be said more. Even on QR supposedly dine on demand, it is a bit of a battle to get the crew to serve meals 3-7 hours after takeoff (depending on flight length), they always want to do it immediately or they want you to work out when you want the meal Doha time.

  • FEMW says:

    My least favourite meal is breakfast or brunch. However you word it! Not the brightest idea that BA have. Obviously thought up by someone who has no interest in food!

  • Lee says:

    Disgusting. More shame on ba.

    • TGLoyalty says:

      Are we talking about the state of the cabin after it’s been cleaned or the food?

      I actually think moaning about light meals while sat in a plane for hours after having had food in a lounge is completely missing the issues with BA these days.

      Poor Punctuality and total lack of cleanliness should be the real headlines

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

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