When I saw "A Very British Airline" I laughed at the lady inspecting the First cabin, and picking up a very small scratch. She said that First customers were very detail driven and would spot such issues. She was, of course, correct, we do spot all these small issues. Unfortunately I believe the inspection she was performing was part of new aircraft acceptance. It would seem that once in service they don't care / can't justify the expense of keeping the cabin in a good state of repair.

The cabins have a hard life but I don't think BA do enough to keep them fresh. Just last week I was in new First on a 777, the cupboard at my seat had a panel missing. As an aside I also witnessed the hilarious sight of the passenger next to me trying to climb into the wardrobe at the front of the cabin thinking it was the bathroom.