BA’s improvement plans revealed following CEO’s email
I recently commented on Sean Doyle’s email to Executive Club members promising improvements. Today the start of improvements is being announced to staff. Unfortunately, one of the main sources of my irritation when flying with BA, the single tray service in Club is not expected to change before autumn due to lack of staff. Hopefully, they may at least change the quality of the starters and desserts as hinted at or offer a choice which is most people’s real issue rather than the one tray itself.
Now most people that read regularly will know that I am generally pro-BA being one of their higher status holders. But many GGLs like myself are beginning to fall out of love with BA as improvements (or getting back to service pre-Covid more like) are very slow to roll out. However, what’s contained below does seem like progress depending on what’s actually delivered.
Even when they go back to the “old” multiple course service they need to take a radical look at how it is served. We can all remember the issues with long service times before covid, particularly on the A350. This is down to BA’s obsession with not having trolleys which is frankly ridiculous. Yes, it does feel nicer on Qatar when it is all hand-delivered but they have the staff to do this. BA has never had plans to increase staff to this level and therefore just set staff up to fail. Virgin use trolleys and in no way does it detract from my experience. In fact, I quite like seeing things laid out on it.
Here’s a comparison of the meals on BA vs Virgin from my December flights. To be fair to BA, the second meal was far more substantial than Virgin’s although you could have a burger on Virgin. Personally, I’d rather have a full main meal and a second smaller meal choice such as afternoon tea or the cold mezze they used to do in Club.
So what are the proposals?
There is quite a lot was in Sean’s email already so I will just comment on the parts that weren’t mentioned before.
- Good news, as I have been asking for in my previous article, there will be more self-service options on ba.com. This will include the use of bots to help people amend their reservations.
- By the summer, there should be a new process to improve document checking and check-in. Hopefully, by summer there will be less to check!
- New dedicated check-in zone for customers travelling in World Traveller Plus.
- New Skyflers scheme for children
- From March Club Europe will have a greater choice of meals (which is handy as my next Club Europe is mid-march so I can report back).
- From May, there is very vague description of improvements to First with ” popular” choices returning. I’d hope that means getting rid of the Lindt ball chocolates and going back to something a little more First class and bringing back the nuts or something similar.
- Plus there will be “enhancements” in Club World. If the one tray is still going on I’d like to see better quality food and a choice of at least starters but ideally of desserts too. I’d also like to see the Club Kitchen better catered with proper food that’s not crisps, biscuits or chocolate. They have announced that they will review the quality and choice in all cabins in terms of meals so hopefully, that will lead to some improvements.
- Another piece of good news is if you have been denied champagne because it’s run out, BA are finally listening and say they will be reviewing the loading of bar items as they believe it’s not enough at the moment.
- One interesting thing that’s not directly customer-related is they will now be allowing BA staff on staff travel to enjoy more of the passenger experience. Previously you did not get a wash bag for example or access to the lounge. Now they will be using some staff as mystery shoppers for the lounges (though why they stopped regularly asking actual passengers what they thought is a mystery, or maybe don’t ask questions you don’t want the answers to!). I do think it’s good to stop penny-pinching with staff travel and give people an idea of what the whole experience is like. But I think BA’s management should be travelling on their competitors as well since many have restored almost a full pre-Covid service.
What do you think of the proposals? Let us know in the comments below.
21 comments
On a flight to Berlin a couple of months back the captain’s wife sitting in 1A certainly enjoyed the full passenger experience. She loudly told her companion how great it was to score these free flights all the time and how he should just go crazy on the freebies, had more than enough champagne to drink out the bar and the cherry on top was that she got a choice of meal whilst all that was left for me in row 2 was the veggie option. I don’t normally begrudge people job perks, but as a paying customer this was truly infuriating…
Perks of the, husband/wifes, job but I do agree. It is a little gouache to be proclaiming such things in a voice which can be heard in row 32.
In slight defense to her I’d blame BA’s poor meal loading as much as anything although if the crew knew not much in the way of choice had been loaded that they would apologise to said wife and give 1st dibs to the paying customers.
Can’t chastise her for having a bottle or two as I’ve been known to drink planes dry on several occasions ( whilst not becoming an a** of course)
We flew Business to Nairobi and back last month. Improvement is definitely needed but it’s so within ther reach. It just needs managers to take a step back and examine what they’re currently providing.
The most incredible thing to me is that the 777 seat plans on their website (and on Seatguru) only show the old yin-yang layout. I can’t see any reference to the huge, costly, and very effective refurb programme. We only flew BA because we were desperate after KLM, then Lufthansa, cancelled our flights. We didn’t book BA at the start because we didn’t like that layout? How crazy is this? They’ve upped their game and don’t tell anyone.
The South Gallery hot breakfast was as ill-conceived as it could be – a toasted bread roll containing a slice of bacon and a hash brown. Dry and hyper-stodgy. Half-eaten remains were on every table.
In-flight service was wonderful both ways and the refurbed 777 suites excellent. Outward the actual food was awful, at lunch my wife’s pork was only 50% edible, my vegan cottage pie was ‘heated to death’. Both meals reminded us of tourist charter-flight food! The afternoon snack was a desiccated Cornish pasty that you could have taken a hammer to. But the overnight return food was really good. Friends who had travelled the same route a week earlier didbn’t even bother to eat on the return and had a fresh cooked breakfast at T5 Arrivals lounge. They said it was good. I can’t undestand why the Gallery was so different.
Finally, I thought the IFE was short on content, and a poor selection. Working through the menus I kept thinking ‘Is that all there is?’. That is so easy to fix.
I completely agree with you about the one tray service in Club World. Trying to justify this by being a COVID measure is just ridiculous. It is purely down to staffing numbers and cost cutting.
I usually enjoy the starters more than the main course as they are usually much fresher and lighter. So much so that I will often ask if I can have two starters instead of a starter and main. The cooked food usually ends up resembling nothing like the menu description. And it’s not just that the starter is served together on the same tray as the main – it’s also that the starter isn’t really a starter at all now. It is so miniscule (and ALWAYS something vegetarian) that it is more like a small side salad.
BA isn’t alone here though. I recently flew Etihad and I was so disappointed with the catering. A one tray deal the same as BA with no choice of starter or dessert.
“I think BA’s management should be travelling on their competitors as well since many have restored almost a full pre-Covid service.”
Amen to that Michele!!! And this is why I don’t accept the Covid excuse anymore. I find that other European and US carriers now have a better long-haul offering, so BA needs to offer at this level in order to get my custom back.
Making sure the plane is loaded with enough food and drink is table stakes, not a competitive advantage. Come on Sean, don’t be another Alex!
I will wait and see although confidençe is not high, personally I detest the food both quality and choice especially from foreign airports, wash bags are pointless even accepting nothing in them worth using, breakfast out of Brazil omg help you, the omelette for example is literally exuded from an oblong tube it makes motorway food look Michelin Star, the cheese offering with dinner is three tiny bits of nasty cheap product and the starter is normally a horrid salad. I would be Very happy to be surprised but I suspect it won’t happen.
Now now Michele, less complaining. We both know you secretly enjoy eating that Do&Co chocolate mouse for the 153rd time in a row 😉
I’m quite a fan of grabbing random strangers ( normally a young couple walking away from the Y check-in) and treating them to the lounge as our guests and short of somebody to make the offer to one day I spotted a well turned out young lady and invited her to try out the lounge only to find out she was CC off on her holidays who was quite excited about the idea. Did cause a slight problem when the system recognised her & the computer said no but with assurance from the better half that it was in fact us who invited her not her asking if we’d get her in ( a big no-no by all accounts) allowances we’re made.
Worked out nicely about 3 flights later when she brought me my pre departure drink and then proceeded to spoil us rotten from there on
22 years silver, but probably not for much longer. The value of the product is no longer justified by its cost.
Recent issues: 4 calls with +30 minute waits ( enough), to get thru to the dedicated phone line, bookings made for two allocated across rows, (amendable at booking, but not a good look). A 60 minute wait recently before being offered a drink. Cabin crew disappearing after meal service never to be seen again.
The clincher now is the premium for club. A FAO flight I looked at was over £500 additional return. After allowing the cost of blocking a middle seat, that’s about £200 for a £10 meal.
I can’t get over my refund when they cancelled SYD SIN during the early days of Covid. They protected me on QR in J when my original booking was F on BA. Months later and having written to the Executive Office of BA for Sean’s attention, I get a £50 voucher. That was my last L/H flight and everything I hear from family and friends is bad about BA since then that I’m dreading cashing in my 241’s; one should feel excited when using a blue chip brand but BA’s on going inconsistency makes the experience a lottery.
We traveled on BA ClubWorld after such a long wait for Tampa USA to reopen. Going out was a wonderful experience crew was fabulous as was the food and drink. Entertainment is lacking as is the snacks. Coming home what a big let down! not enough crew, food was inedible, no Champagne, no glasses for everyone, not enough menus and some of the menus were for a different flight. The breakfast service was cut in half to enable them to serve everyone also inedible. a complete letdown for us. We also travel ClubWorld to Tenerife in the summer who ever thought of the toasted roll with bacon and a hash brown? totally disgusting. We have another flight to Tampa in May with BA ClubWorld if its the same experience we will be changing our preferred airline and go with the compition in the future.
I have already given up. BA is hopeless. I don’t believe in any improvement. Just came back from Miami. Flight was delayed 2 hrs – even if they operate not full capacity they can not make it right, food was disgusting ( club ). I skipped breakfast. I will avoid BA whenever I can. I was gold for 10+ years. Can’t see the point to stay loyal if airline doesn’t care about anything.
What has really riled me in the past is the fact that travelling staff get their choice of meals, so when it came down to me as a paying pax, my choice had run out!!!
You have missed the item that was 1st on Shaun Doyle’s message. BA customer service is a disgrace. Try looking on Trustpilot and see how many complaints there are. We had Premium Economy seats booked using Avios and a AmEx companion voucher. Every time Avios Business/Club Class seats became available I tried to upgrade. As an example, I called customer service (because this cannot be done on-line.) I listened to happy BA music and promotions for 1 hour, without speaking to anyone at BA and then the line cut off. I called a second time – the same, cut off after an hour. I called a third time and sent a detailed Tweet. Phone call cut off again after an hour. 48 hours later BA responded to the tweet asking for a lot of flight details. (My hopes were raised.) I provided all the details and later received a response that I can amend bookings on-line. I advised it wasn’t possible on line. There was no further response!
Announcement is too late for me. After 7 years as GGL, I’ve booked my next 3 longhauls with Singapore and Swiss. BA have given me some great travel experiences, but these are far outweighed by indifference and poor onboard experiences. So many of the great crew have now left and BA’s training programme for new staff doesn’t address how to make your customers feel valued. All the personal iPads and iPhones they hand out, can’t make up for the fact that crew have no idea what GGL means and provide a welcome.
Hi, as a partner of a long serving cabin crew CSD, 27yrs, I can understand the frustrations with both the service and the 1A “passengers” However, it is not the crews fault if the food is not loaded on for the amount of passengers on the flight, regardless of departure airport, that’s a management issue, as is the staffing levels, if they are a member down, they are still told to take the flight out, again, management issues, you have to bear in mind that BA shafted nearly 35000 staff, so some crew just go through the motions,
As for staff travel, my partner reminds me before every flight that I go on of the “rules”,
Don’t accept any freebies, like the wash bag, I will get whatever food is left if any, depending on numbers catered for, also, do not get drunk or annoy other passengers as this will be noted and will go against your cabin crew partner, as for the 1A passengers, that’s a different story as they normally are partners of the flight crew who have overall charge of the aircraft, hope this helps
Can you please tell me why my comment is not shown here, I wrote it earlier today, 4th Feb
Was it controversial? Maybe, but who is monitoring this comment section, or is there something else going on,!!!!
It’s only me Michele monitoring it and I’ve been in a meeting all day. All first comments are moderated. After that they don’t need to be approved. No conspiracy theories going on here!
Flew LHR to JFK first this week. New cabin design and great crew.
But – again – all 8 seats occupied and only 3 of each main course and desserts loaded. I ended up with a few chocolates as a dessert as they’d ran out completely. The crew were hugely apologetic but are clearly resigned to it happening all the time.
Madness.
That’s very poor to run out of dessert!
HI Michele.
POST4 – Domenico. That is a point some of us try to drive home often .. BA management (our management, I work there…) are with one or two exceptions internal promotions and elevations to roles that very directly impact customer experience are of graduate student placements. I doubt any of them have ever travelled Business Class long haul on a premium airline on their own money. The people who chose our system have no world experience. None of the outside people who have joined management in recent years have lasted very long either.
BA could be so much more but I think the culture prevents it.
POST17 Scott. That’s pretty much normal for us, I can’t say sorry enough either up there or down here. One of my colleagues is championing this point on the internal forum. I do wonder how JFK will fare as things continue to rev up and we are all one fleet and no longer able to readily say “I’ll work in first or club” etc (see other posts about that) JFK is the single most important route we have from many perspectives and it shouldn’t in fairness be given special treatment over someone paying his hard earned money from Joburg or so, BUT our new working system will dent the ability to operate JFK as a slick, quick response, intuitive service to highly experienced customers who know the service as well as some of us do. Club and First are being crewed by people now who might not want to be in that section, months out of tune with the product and who pays the price? Again., Management want one huge crew of 14000 or so people who are basically easy to administer. That takes precidence over customer experience until it REALLY back fires.
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