simons1

I agree with much of what you say on here CWS but I wonder whether with your close loyalties to BA you are treated like a 'normal' passenger or have the same experience as many less regular travellers.

I have only been on BA 4 times in the last year - to GIB and back, to IOM, and to JNB and back. On both GIB flights hand baggage was being pushed in cupboards, under a couple of empty seats, rearranging lockers to accommodate rollaboards (so people with 1 bag asked to put it under seat) etc.

Clearly there is a fundamental issue here - BA are clearly unwilling to enforce the published limits on hand baggage and too much clobber is entering the cabin.

Of course anyone who travels semi regularly knows this, which is why you get the boarding scrum that many people on here have highlighted. People desperately jockey for position because they know that otherwise at best their bag may end up 20 rows away.

It may be that statistically you have not witnessed a problem, however there clearly is an issue, as so many people have reported, and this is what leads to the sub-optimal experience at the boarding gate.

Generally you would say that where there is a will there is a way, and that the airline could sort it out as other airlines have done. However in my experience BA is generally operated by buck passers, why tackle the issue if it can be left to someone else in the chain. In this case the people on the front line are the cabin crew as they are the last point in the chain and the buck can be passed no further.

gw76

Glasgow always had good staff, yet this increasingly seems to be an issue. Its not as if they dont have space at end of pier for correct lines, even with its 767. Wonder what could be done?
I may ask next time politely why the new guidelines are not used, although as I thought before they were only 'guidelines' and just part of a pilot trial.

Fitch

I say again - BA management do NOT have control of their frontline staff (at least, frontline ground staff), who consequently behave as they see fit. Our only salvation is that 99.9% are decent individuals doing the best they can...

If I was in a leadership position at BA, or even a shareholder, I would consider this an important and urgent issue and would take steps to address it.

That they are letting this running sore run on speaks volumes...

DYKWIA

I think that was the danger when they implemented this change, and was highlighted on this very thread.

BA can bring in all sorts of new rules, but in the end, the staff just do what's easiest for themselves.

flashware

You're missing the point here. C-W-S was referring to bags being checked into the hold. You're referring to a completely different aspect.

bd95

I thin the change in emphasis is important though BA haven't really enforced it yet. Worth remembering that they still have a generous hand baggage allowance compared to other airlines.

I see the key feature of this new policy being anyone can take hand baggage on board but it must fit under the seat in front. Your trolley bag will probably get on [if there's space, but there's not enough space for everyone to do this]. It's simply acknowledging the laws of physics. Ryanair do this more explicitly by saying that they can take 90 trolley bags on board and all others go in the hold - they have probably measured their lockers!

It's quite clear that customers know BA are generous about cabin baggage, and consequently take the p***. I like being able to go HBO with a trolley and small bag for most trips. I do however see a big difference with BA's new sister airline, EI. EI allows regulation trolley size bag and a "small hand bag or small gent's satchel" with an appropriately small volume on the baggage gauge. This allows ladies not to worry about stuffing their small handbag into their main cabin bag, and allows a fairly slimline laptop bag or briefcase (but not those enormous laptop bags you see that could fit most of an office into them). They don't seem to have any problems with baggage on board, though will turn a blind eye to the odd infringement where it's not causing a problem. You tend not to see anyone carrying two enormous bags though. It's expectation management people!

simons1

Yes I know that. However just because bags weren't removed to the hold doesn't make it acceptable in any way.

diamantaire

What is the correct boarding process?
The ba.com webiste when searched " boarding" shows 27 results, but none about baording.
Am confused as most airports have a different order each & everytime.

What should be the order for LH flights to from lhr?

thanx

Genius1

The correct order is:

First
Club World
Club Europe
Business UK
oneworld Emerald
oneworld Sapphire
oneworld Ruby

Delete cabins as appropriate depending on the flight.

In reality, as this thread details, it's vary variable.

There are details under the Boarding tab here, but that doesn't show the order.

diamantaire

In dxb the last time it was first (separate waiting area) , the sign clearly shows owe , but owe not allowed.
Then cw, owe, ows & owr all at the same time !!

wrote to ba to highlight the problem. but got a copy & paste reply !!

nldogbert

Last weekend, on my outbound flight to LGW - at least they implemented it as

1) Club + OWE
2) OWS
3) OWR

They were enforcing the process and a lot of gate lice not in that order was asked to move to the side.

On the return from LHR I was not sure how the process was - because for the rare times, the gate was in the C-gate area and 1 hour before depature time it was already showing Boarding on the FIS. No lines at the priority lane and i was breezing directly to my seat - but I guess this being at the C-gate caught many by surprised so lots of non-status/Club passengers came in rather late.

Cheers!

FlyerTalker6245

I joined the back of a 80+ pax Fast Track boarding queue for Glasgow yesterday. The man in charge of boarding came walking down the queue asking everyone their status, and escorted the golds to the front. Outstanding ^^.

(He also sent the bronzes behind the silvers).

dylanks

After many months of this policy, I still don't understand a few things:

• Why bother making the second bag as small as BA's new requirement, or as what EI have? From my perspective, if the smaller bag will fit under the seat, then why make the size limit be half of the available space? Yes, a few passengers in bulkhead or exit row seats put both bags overhead, but it's not the smaller bag that is causing the issue of not having enough space for bags on board. The previous dimensions prior to this change were more than reasonable.
• Why do CE passengers have the same constraints for hand baggage as ET? Given the eroding seat pitch in CE, BA could give separate CE tags that allow larger bags, such as the previous dimensions. This would allow business travelers a greater chance to fly with hand bags only, which is how many business travelers on short trips want to fly anyway, in order to save time checking and reclaiming luggage. It would give back a small additional incentive for flying CE.
• The new size precludes the real dimensions of every laptop backpack on the market. But unless completely filled, they all fit within the new sizer. Unfortunately BA staff believe they will not fit, and waste time during boarding making you show that the bag does fit. If you go through the process of checking-in at the ticket counter, BA should probably tag each bag as fitting within the carry-on size limit, to speed up the boarding process.
• Reserve sufficient space over row 1 for the bags from row 1 passengers on short haul flights. This may mean moving some of the built-in equipment back a few rows, and asking crew to not put their bags over the scarcest area for overhead bags on the aircraft. This change would make it such that row 1 passengers would not feel the need to rush to board first. As this row is typically reserved for gold passengers flying in CE who would probably prefer to spend more time in the lounge, this would reduce the problem of row 1 passengers having to walk back a few rows to get their bags upon landing. (An even better option would be to to carve out space in the bulkhead to fit a carry-on bag in front of row 1, but I'm trying to be realistic at this point).

MPH1980

I'm going to keep reminding people of this because it's important. The second bag IS NOT the small bag - it's the wheelie.

The first bag is the small bag.

They switched it around when they changed the sizes.

ThatT1Feeling

Interesting new policy today...

Kids and additional assistance first..

Then passengers with hand luggage who wanted to check their hand luggage - seriously - if you checked your hand luggage, you got to board before CE and shiny card holders!! Looking at the number of wheelies and the end result in the cabin, actually it wasn't a bad call..