Calchas

Welcome aboard Orange.Man

That is quite a strong statement.

maastrichtmouse

Just come off the BA 1395 to LHR from Manchester. Before boarding it was announced there was no food or drink on board due to an IT error. This was then corrected on board by the excellent on board team to be that they had some food and drink but would have to manually process payments. They then practically begged us not to order emphasising the very short flight. I was quite far back and didn't see anyone order anything. I asked for a glass of tap water just after take off and this was brought to me with no quibble. I'm on to BRU now so will see what happens there.

T8191

A further welcome to Orange.Man ... good to get some new perspectives here!

All I need now is for some AA FA's to join in

Paralytic

Are they not all too old to know how to work the internet?

Dambus

Welcome! Some great points.

Implications for CE service to be determined....

Which is an inexcusable and (almost) inexplicable leadership failure.

While the negative impact with passengers will eventually flush through, (assuming BA have not completely missed the mark with the overall market positioning of their new product mix), the negative impact on an already bruised staff cohort is highly damaging and totally unnecessary.

BA6948

so now we are 5 days into this news enhanced BoB and problems haven't be solved.

There is no way BA will ever manage to serve the whole plane on such a short flight. As I said previously, if evrrything goes well each sale could take 2 minutes. If it is one trolley so that's max 15 pac served per flight.

subject2load

As many others have commented, the damage fall-out from this hapless implementation will be considerable ; and will - ironically for BA within the context of all their pre-launch hype - very likely encourage those who had perhaps not previously thought about bringing their own food to now make the effort to do just that, as they witness for themselves the chaotic scenes onboard some flights.

The sad reality is that within the space of a single day, the service proposition in ET has moved from one where you were guaranteed to receive drinks and some form of food (the latter of course having already been enhanced to virtually zero as part of a tactical strategy), free at point of delivery, to one where you are not actually guaranteed anything.

In summary, the new PP approach to catering means that you MAY have the 'opportunity' to buy refreshments - but only if all the stars align correctly, to the extent that :

- catering has actually been loaded on your flight

- you happen to be sitting in a row that the CC + trolley actually get to visit

- the settlement system is actually able to collect your payment

- CC are willing & able to provide FOC water in a timely manner

- your preferred sandwich selection hasn't run out after just 2 rows

All of which serves to underline the message that the only way you can be sure of enjoying some refreshment on BA shorthaul ET - and I do mean any refreshment - is to take it onboard with you.

Hardly a happy state of affairs for our national carrier.

In many cases, CC - judging from FT reports - have battled valiantly to deliver a respectable service to customers amidst the general chaos. And in doing so, have also delivered additional revenue, gratefully received of course by Mr Cruz.

That aside, exactly which elements of this heavily-promoted major launch (designed allegedly to provide greater choice & quality) can Mr Cruz be proud of, I wonder .....?

Calum

I'm guessing the thing Starbucks use to heat a bacon roll in 75 seconds doesn't work onboard...

rapidex

I would be happy to bet you are wrong.I doubt Mr Cruz is interested in purchasing any.

FlightDetective

It's the same at Aer Lingus, sometimes you need to wait 5-10 minutes for your hot food to be heated and brought to you. Though the people at EI have the whole BoB down pat and they accept cash too.

Ber2dca

This is actually what BA flyers should really fear: BA chasing the EI model.

EI straddles the line between LCC and 'real' carrier (short-haul is pure LCC, long-haul is regular carrier) and is reasonably successful at it. But even where they pretend to be a regular carrier, there's a bit of a stench of cheap as that's the corporate culture.

T8191

LHR on Twitter seem to be on the ball

.

kaizenflying

Just off a Madrid flight for a fun week of business. Another battle for the crew with BoB but I spoke to a purser in the galley and she tried to remain professional about BoB. I asked whether BA was listening and she did say crews had an internal email recently to say there had been some BoB issues since it's launch but.... passengers were really positive about the enhanced service overall.

I'm sorry. Either the experiences here and on Twitter are all wrong or BA is involved in large scale marketing spin. BoB problems- what problems? 👍

psollitt

Well given the constant twitter torrent of how BOB is systemwide failing I think the have just put fingers in ears and are going "...LALALALA.." very very loudly to deal with the problem !

Saltire74

Maybe BA employed the ex Iraqi Minister for Propaganda

S