riced

Well I've finally experienced New First and have to say that the cabin is really nice. The new video screens are a huge improvement, and there is a really nice modern feeling to everything. The only negative is the "spouse seat" which is more uncomfortable that the old one.

The huge negative to this flight was the crew. I do not think there was a single member over 25 including the Purser. Nobody knew what to do. I had to wait over an hour after a smooth takeoff to get a glass of champagne. The flight attendant then delivered a glass of red to me... When I told her that I had ordered champagne, she promptly spilled the whole glass over the person in 2E. After another 20 minutes I was served a warm glass minus the nuts that everyone else received.

Then we had another emergency...My daughter back in 10J had a whole bottle of red spilled from head to toe. I do not know how this could possibly happen but she comes running up to us almost crying because they have ruined her dress and more importantly a very precious stuffed animal. We spend the next 30 minutes in the wash room trying to clean her up. The staff continue to serve with no offer of assistance other than some soda water. I then ask to speak to the CSD and he offers a voucher for dry cleaning...

I know accidents happen, but this flight was ludicrous. The poor service continued with my call button having to be depressed for just about everything. Another example of the poor service was Afternoon tea. When my wife and I ordered, we were told that the scones were not available until 1.5hrs prior to landing. I thought you could eat anything in F at anytime? Anyway we made the most of it and tried to polish off as many bottles of Tattinger as possible. BA should give this F crew remedial training and I am totally baffled as to how the CSD was promoted to this position so young. Absolutely useless.

rossmacd

Which route was this? It could have been a Mixed Fleet operated route? Of course that does not excuse the poor service you received.

Can I help you

riced, I am extremely sorry to hear you had such poor service from your crew, please do not judge all BA cabin crew by this.
Please complain to BA as soon as possible as we need to ensure this doesn�t happen again.
I am sure others will be along to explain more.

Phil the Flyer

to lessen the pain of the poor service, or to exact some sort of financial revenge against BA?

Fruitcake

Put the Atlanta route back to Gatwick. They have consistently good crews there.

eddy67

Is LHR-ATL-LHR a Mixed Fleet route ?

rossmacd

Oops just saw the thread title was LHR-ATL! FT app on the iPhone doest show the full thread title!

stifle

The clue is in the topic

riced

They wrote "Mixed Fleet" on the voucher. Is that their special word for a poorly trained inexperienced crew? On the flight over we had a delightful CSD and wonderful service. They were much more experienced making regular trips through the cabin, topping up water, wine, etc as needed. Not a single F crew member was proactive on this trip.

Another example of the inexperience was pouring the wine and the water. The wine and champagne were all poured into glasses in the galley. About 3/4 of the way through the flight they started pouring with the bottle at the seat. Then a few minutes later and with a great flourish they topped up my water with a bottle like it was some grand event. Either pour everything from behind the curtain or pour with the bottle at the seat, but don't start making a theatrical act out of it 5 hours into the flight.

henkybaby

That is the term for the new fleet that BA has created to break the power of the unions. Something we were unanimously enthusiastic about. Given the way Mixed Fleet came to be this means that they cannot mix them with experienced crews from WorldWide. No matter the name.

So, the only choice for them is to be trained in advance and learn on the job. Per definition there will be very few experienced cabin managers yet. It will take them at least a year to get up to speed.

We wanted BA to break the unions, this is the price we have to pay. No way around it.

origin

Mixed fleet is a learning curve that BA will go through.

What I get upset with is families who dont sit together on a flight. If you dont like each other than why do you expect other people to sit near you.

LTN Phobia

Hahaha! I admit to laughing and agreeing with that comment, but I also thought that they might have been nice, unfussy people who happened to be seated away from each other even though they wanted to, and decided not to make a fuss (although I do not consider it appropriate if a child is seated away from the parents so that they cannot keep their eye on them and they should speak out out of responsibility).

riced

Its the seat right behind 4K. Not exactly a hike and we could not get the extra MFU.

henkybaby

I would not worry. Plenty of people let their children travel in J or even WT(P) when traveling F. It is also of little relevance to your complaint. I assume she is not a minor - behavior notwithstanding - otherwise BA did make another booboo by letting her travel without an adult next to her. I may be wrong about that though.

Although the reason for the lesser service is explained this does not mean that you should not complain. I think it is very important that BA receives the feedback so that it realizes that additional training is required or that the passengers are given an explanation beforehand. A little openness and honesty goes a long way.

Fruitcake

Can / do Mixed Fleet crews join BASSA? They should have a union, after all, just hopefully one behaving more sensibly.