I love the timings of the 178 and it’s often better for me than any alternatives. I wake up early anyway, especially if I’ve only been to the us for a short period, I can certainly have a full day of work on a plane (undisturbed too: bliss!) and can take a same day connection if flying elsewhere in Europe and arrive tired enough to sleep. Works much better for me than overnights way too short to sleep.

I agree with those who say that the food concept is neither the only one nor (by a long shot) the best one and I actually has costs implications unless BA is the only major European airline which is not charged more for a hot lunch/dinner than for a hot breakfast which I doubt, and it’s hard not to think this might be a consideration.

in terms of my meal cycles, I’d much prefer one of the two alternatives described by others: brunch (rather than breakfast) with at least one lunch option (what ba deceptively call ‘mixed grill’ is really more of a full English than an actual mixed grill), or even quick single tray continental breakfast with a full meal (even like the second hot meal of west coast services rather than the ‘best’ new service first meal) towards the end of the flight.

Will I still pick the ba flight? Yes, it has the best timings and connections, it doesn’t mean I can’t conceive a meal concept that would work better for me and I suspect for a few others.