I flew CE LHR-BCN on Friday PM. There was a delay pushing back, but instead of springing into action when we finally got into the cruise, the cabin crew had a long, loud, conversation behind the curtain for 50 minutes.
When they eventually came into the cabin, there was no separate bar service - just two trolleys with afternoon tea trays from the first and drinks from the second. The only follow-up was the offer of another scone and then they were largely absent for the remainder of the flight.
Granted, we made up much of the lost time, but surely if the shortened flight was the reason for their rather perfunctory appearance there would not have been such a delay of service at the beginning of the flight.
This evening's return was so different that it was almost like I had been on an LCC on the outbound but at the time I had wondered whether I was experiencing an "enhancement" - even though it didn't feel right.
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Sadly BA has some shocking crews knocking around, but they are few and far between.
when they are bad they are really bad, but thats made up for when they are as they normally are. Normal BA is good
cs
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Quote:
Originally Posted by cornishsimon
Sadly BA has some shocking crews knocking around, but they are few and far between.
when they are bad they are really bad, but thats made up for when they are as they normally are. Normal BA is good
cs
Completely agree. Best crew in the world. If they were any less good, very little reason to choose BA on hops to Asia or the Middle East, or connect to Europe ( for this of us who live on another continent and choose BA too Paris or Rome over the appalling Skyteam airlines)
But these " rogue" crew ( consistently 3 per cent or less over 17 years of flying BA in premium, in my experience) tend to persist, I've often wondered why? ( If the 97+ percent were not so very good to fantastic, they wouldn't stand out like they do, I suppose... I was certainly traumatized by one such, in 2010 on a GRU-EZE hop in CW and can still remember my shock . )
Given how few they are, it should be easy to identify them, weed them out/ take punitive action with exemplary results. There must be
difficulties, I wonder what they are? Not unions... the rogue numbers are too low, right?
if the service routines are the same as lgw then afternoon tea service is hot towels, trolly with afternoon tea trays tea and coffee, followed by the drinks cart
But these " rogue" crew ( consistently 3 per cent or less over 17 years of flying BA in premium, in my experience) tend to persist, I've often wondered why? ( If the 97+ percent were not so very good to fantastic, they wouldn't stand out like they do, I suppose... I was certainly traumatized by one such, in 2010 on a GRU-EZE hop in CW and can still remember my shock . )
Given how few they are, it should be easy to identify them, weed them out/ take punitive action with exemplary results. There must be
difficulties, I wonder what they are? Not unions... the rogue numbers are too low, right?
On CE and WW I would put the figure at closer 50% from my own experience. I had some truly shocking crews last year. I lay most of the blame for poor crew experiences upon the senior cabin crew members. On many flights where I had poor experiences last year the tone seemed to have been set from the top.
I find that you can tell pretty much upon boarding how your flight will pan out. The greeting and how engaged the Senior Cabin Crew member is tends to be a reliable indicator of things to come.
I no longer routinely complain about poor crews or service onboard because it is relatively common and I don't want to come across to BA as a whinger. Service has to be REALLY bad before I raise it after the flight (e.g. 2 hours to deliver an amuse bouche in F en route to BKK).
On many flights where I had poor experiences last year the tone seemed to have been set from the top.
I find that you can tell pretty much upon boarding how your flight will pan out. The greeting and how engaged the Senior Cabin Crew member is tends to be a reliable indicator of things to come.
I no longer routinely complain about poor crews or service onboard because it is relatively common and I don't want to come across to BA as a whinger. Service has to be REALLY bad before I raise it after the flight (e.g. 2 hours to deliver an amuse bouche in F en route to BKK).
I have to agree.
I I perceive some of my flights to be "a bit less than mediocre" to "poor" (rather than "bad") as no-one was rude or anything really bad was done, but perfunctory to the extent that made me think they did not care. That is not how the flight should feel.
And almost invariably those flights had a "poor" senior cabin crew member. Having said that, I have had a poor SCCM but fantastic crew, but it was more "despite" the SCCM.
I don't tend to complain about the poor cabin services either, unless it had materially impacted me. If it took 2 hours to have an amuse bouche in F without a good reason, I too would complain, though.
So true about how the SCCMs greet you when you come on board and their engagement.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by LTN Phobia
I have to agree.
I I perceive some of my flights to be "a bit less than mediocre" to "poor" (rather than "bad") as no-one was rude or anything really bad was done, but perfunctory to the extent that made me think they did not care. That is not how the flight should feel.
And almost invariably those flights had a "poor" senior cabin crew member. Having said that, I have had a poor SCCM but fantastic crew, but it was more "despite" the SCCM.
I don't tend to complain about the poor cabin services either, unless it had materially impacted me. If it took 2 hours to have an amuse bouche in F without a good reason, I too would complain, though.
So true about how the SCCMs greet you when you come on board and their engagement.
I guess I've just been very lucky. Reflecting onhow I got my 3 percent.....
Maybe it's the destinations?
I've had crews that look exhausted out of BKK but I put that down to wild partying, it's never affected service in CW ( always UD). Likewise, crews in and out of Sao Paulo always seem to be in a good mood as to crews into New York. ( have nought to do with them the other way). Ditto for Delhi and Bombay, IME, and these routes also have excellent India based crew. I've sen poor service to CAI. And PVG. and ACC. More than once. Come to think of it.
Above pertains to CW
I've only paid for F once lastyear (GRU-DEL oneway) And been oped up twice, so four
sectors,...... and crew were on the ball on all flights except one rather grumpy senior CC with a strong Yorks accent.
Little experience with CE but I've found them better than AF, LH Finnair and IB on my limited hops. I have low expectations on these flights, though. Just answer when I call, and get me my beverage, and I'm happy.
Little experience with CE but I've found them better than AF, LH Finnair and IB on my limited hops. I have low expectations on these flights, though. Just answer when I call, and get me my beverage, and I'm happy.
I do quite a lot of short haul flying in CE/business class/F (BA/LH/LX/JL/NH/CX and even did 4 sectors on AA domestic F last year which was the first experience for me). CE is generally OK on BA and some are fantastic, but there are fair few flights that if I considered them a treat I would be disappointed due to perfunctory service. I don't personally really care much as my main purpose in flight is to sleep a lot, but many people consider business class/CE to be a treat so they probably should put some extra efforts in.
In fact, the failure rate on standard services on a 767 is very high. Nuts missing, menus missing, doing service in a strange way etc is very frequent. Those things do not necessarily make the flights bad but they are a bit 'weak' and mediocre. It doesn't tend to happen as much on A320 family. There must be something about the 767 that make the crew a bit disorganised I think??
I don't tend to have much problem on long haul as they are mostly in F. There were occasional slip-ups like being completely overlooked in CW once last year (I was in a cubbyhole seat, admittedly) and some slack CSDs but by and large they are fine.
I'd say, in terms of the on-board services, at my current guess 10% of BA flights are really excellent and outstanding. 60% of BA flights are good to very good. 20% are OK to a bit better than OK. 5% are mediocre and could do much better. 5% leave quite a bit to be desired.
It leaves BA at a high percentage of "good to excellent" and I have to admit I like flying with them.
There are just some really poor crew around that give BA a bad name, unfortunately, because bad services tend to stick in people's mind more.
Last edited by LTN Phobia; Jan 14, 13 at 5:03 am..
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I am completely baffled. I would think that - judging from what is posted here - that we have some of the most articulate and assertive people who travel. Yet one (or more?) would sit there for 50 minutes and let them get on or away with it. Maybe I am just one tried and tested stroppy cow but up with that I would not put. This is not a criticism just a comment - unless people are happy to write here what they could or cannot deal with face to face?
In the ceiling panel there is a call button - it is there to call a member of the cabin crew. Assuming that they flounced out with a "Yes?" attitude I'd ask
"I'd like a Champagne (or whatever) please as I am absolutely parched"
"We will be serving tea in a few minutes" might come the answer should elicit the reply
"I'd like it now please - if it's too much trouble I'll happily come to the galley and collect it". This of course has to be accompanied by the sort of smile that a python wears before swallowing its lunch and the words sounding like honey dripping from a cobra.
Sorry - I am not just writing that - I'd do it. I do realise that "making a fuss" is not British but poor service is poor service and once people realise that you are not going to tolerate it then usually it bucks up. You should not have to resort to such methods but as in all walks of life there are those who think that just showing up for work is enough cause for us to be grateful.
What I am curious is what another crew member was doing up in the front galley? There are no 767s on that route according to Expertflyer and unless there were over 40 of you in Club there should only be one crew member (Purser) working there. The other two or three will have more than enough to get on with in the back. I would understand them running everything out and then start yakking in the galley (I'm not condoning just trying to understand) once they had the rest of you fed and watered.
Most bizzare.
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Quote:
Originally Posted by lgw29
if the service routines are the same as lgw then afternoon tea service is hot towels, trolly with afternoon tea trays tea and coffee, followed by the drinks cart
LHR CE is the same in my experience. However a plea on the return leg from, say, MAD in Aug for an immediate drinks run often works wonders.
Little experience with CE but I've found them better than AF, LH Finnair and IB on my limited hops. I have low expectations on these flights, though. Just answer when I call, and get me my beverage, and I'm happy.
I think CE is a very different beast to long-haul. I do a lot of CE and it's been very hit-and-miss in my experience.
. Best crew in the world. If they were any less good, very little reason to choose BA on hops to Asia or the Middle East, or connect to Europe ( for this of us who live on another continent and choose BA too Paris or Rome over the appalling Skyteam airlines) 
