Prospero

I think I can relate to this. I'm not what I'd call a regular First passenger - in the last 6-7 months I have flown four sectors. On three, the crew were impeccable and excelled in delivering the service tailored to my individual needs. The crew possess a personality trait I really admire; they are far more adept at reading people as I am and could ever be and they have an incredible ability to capture nuances very quickly and build a meaningful rapport with individual passengers - amazing really considering the very short introductions we have. In this respect, you'll never achieve consistency principally because every passenger is different, and the service delivered to one passenger will differ from the service delivered to the next. To me, this is quintessentially BA.

With the fourth flight in this set, the crew were young, a little nervous (as I sensed them) but nonetheless pro-practive and attentive. I think on this occasion I wasn't particular easy to read. We experienced a stream of delays prior to boarding (this was shortly after BA resumed its regular 789 service from SJC) and I was agitated when I boarded the aircraft, and spent the first hour on board in a state of "decompression". In this situation, I tend to block people out and can come across as "stand-offish". Consequently, there wasn't the usual relaxed banter with the crew I normally enjoy.

One thing I have learned from talking to BA cabin crew is the majority of First passengers are regulars (like Tobias-UK), who know exactly what they want in terms of inflight service and the style of engagement they have with the crew and that I suppose is mirrored in many ways how the crew engage with us.

So consistency across the board - certainly not. Nuanced, definitely. BA's First service is not homogenised but on several other airlines, I tend to think it is.