Paralytic

I guess its hard to untrain years of habit

sammyh25

Hopefully sooner rather than later...

Globaliser

That is (once again) an unfortunate effect of the state of the relationship between management and cabin crew. If I may put it neutrally, the latter have so much to contribute to such issues but the relationship still does not allow it.

Paralytic

Reading between the lines, its apparent that there's some dismay about the manner in which BA has introduced this change. Whilst I'm sure the vast majority of staff will agree that the introduction of this change is a good thing for both passengers and, ultimately, BA, it sounds like the company, having effectively sidelined BASSA, might have swung too far in the other direction.

Hopefully BA will learn from this and whilst I wouldn't go so far as to say they should have changes "approved" by staff, they should certainly consult the staff about upcoming changes and allow them to provide feedback based on their years of experience.

Can I help you

Hopefully BA can reconnect with their staff and listen to us rather than ignoring us, the majority of us want things to get better but feel that we are no longer being listen too.

Can I help you

I feel your pain.

lancefan

Is the menu now offered in WT+ actually the same menu as what is dished up in CW or is it just a totally new and separate menu / service made to look Club Worldish.

sammyh25

Literally, and got the burn marks to prove it. Every one of us was covered in cool gel by the end of the service!!!!

IAMORGAN

What are the issues? Not enough loadings? Difficult to serve by hand? Slow?

How can this be improved?

moral_low_ground

It's a universal problem, not confined to the airline industry. When you get promoted beyond your level of incompetence there is far too much to do to bother listening to the plebs you have left behind.

Unlikely to change anytime soon

poorbird

And yet none of the special meals exclude nuts as a matter of course, you are no better off than chancing it with the main menu - in fact you could be worse off.

sammyh25

Regarding meals for people with nut allergies.. BA no longer guarantee that any meals will be 100% free of nuts or traces of nuts.

Whilst non of the meals in Club/WT/WT+ are made using peanuts or any derivatives of peanuts, catering will not guarantee that peanuts/peanut powder have not come into contact with the meals during their preparation. If peanuts have been used in First it will be clearly stated on the menu. Other types of nuts can and are used regularly in the preparation of meals for all cabins.

If you have a really bad reaction to peanuts the best and safest method is to self cater as best you can, or maybe consider ordering a fruit plate. I think I'd rather do without my in-flight meal than run the risk of anaphylaxis during flight, even though we carry the Epipen and adrenalin onboard.

Can I help you

Do you want to tell everyone sammyh25 why this new “enhanced” doesn’t work, as I know that you have seen it in its full glory?
I have to tell you that BA is trying to make the foot fit the shoe rather than the other way around, even the crew that haven’t seen the light of day for 2 years are agreeing that something has to change and fast.
Can I ask would you prefer to get an enhanced tray with cheese, chocolates, metal cutlery and a guarantee to get your first choice of a W/T hot meal or as now a regular W/T tray with metal cutlery and a good chance of no choice of CW hot meal?

IAMORGAN

I would much rather have the CW option every time. I'd have been quite pleased as I would definitely have preferred the beef! Chicken is soooo boring (but also very popular).

I can see why this might be an issue in that WT+ used to get the first pick of Traveller meals, so people are accustomed to getting a choice of both menu options, whereas now if there is 100% loading it means that people are inevitably going to be disappointed.

I think that WT+ should definitely have something to differentiate it from WT (and I'm not talking about a few lumps of cheese and a napkin).

I would HOPE (naively?!) that BA will adjust the loadings of beef/chicken once they realise how popular it is. There will still be people disappointed. Another option would be to offer three menu choices (still at 100% loading) so at least people can have a second choice if they don't eat the remaining item. I can't see how this would add cost being as the meals are already in production for CW and would be catered at 100%. There would inevitably still be one or two people who are stuck with the least popular option, and I guess more people will be denied their first choice this way, but maybe it's a happy medium? To me, the mistake seems to be restricting the "choice" to two items. Is WT 100% catered or do they have a surplus? If so, I guess another option would be to offer the WT+ customers what's left after the WT service has been completed if they can't/won't eat what's on the WT+ menu. Whilst this would degrade the product, it would at least mean they get fed. Or even, how about offering what's left from CW? The problem here is that you'd get requests from those who know the system "can I have the CW main salad instead...." etc and it would just become a headache for the crewmember running around trying to carry trays backwards and forwards.

I don't know how the other carriers who offer J meals in Y+ do it, but I think it's right BA is trying to raise their game. I guess the key issue is budget, as I agree it's a pity that they can't offer an enhanced WT tray with cheese plate and all!

Whatever they decide to do, there will be things that are better than how it was before (i.e. in theory better meal quality) but also a tradeoff (i.e. first choice availability).

I noticed Sammyh's comments about burns(!) is this being caused by having to hand-serve the trays? Are these meals being prepared in the CW galley and then carried through to Traveller + or prepared in WT and carried all the way back to WT+?

Globaliser

As I understand it, it's from having to take the foil off the hot dish while the tray is perched on top of the trolley when the hot dish is too big for the WT tray to begin with.

I have to say, I am all for improvements in WT+ (so long as they don't cause WT+ fares to rise); but on this occasion it seems to me very possible that it's not been properly thought through or there haven't been enough proper dry runs done on the ground before launching the service in the air. Difficulties like this ought not to be difficult to pick up in advance.