Rexy52

I flew in Club on BA 2781 on Saturday from Madeira to LGW. The flight left on time at 14.10 and lunch was served pretty promptly after take-off. There were no pre-lunch drinks offered; our first drink arrived after we'd finished the starter and no second drink arrived at all, although some further drinks were served to the first two rows (my wife and I were in row 5 of an almost full 8 row cabin).

My impression was that someone had decided to cut down on their workload and this was reinforced by the fact that the crew member serving the drinks was showing no sense of urgency, while his colleague seemed to be doing the bulk of the work handing out and collecting meals. I'd have expected a drink service before lunch and further drinks to be offered as the meal arrived and as the main course was served.

Am I being unfair, or were we short changed on the service that should have been offered?

KARFA

I did FNC-LGW only 2 weeks ago. I think you are right something odd was happening - on my flight we had a drinks & nuts round first, then starters, then I think second drinks, then main course, then tea/coffee. This was the same method used on other long band flights I have had. I think someone mentioned on long band flights there can be a truncating of service if necessary, but it is hard to believe how it would be on one of the longest short haul flights BA do.

ajamieson

Yes, this is the truncated service which (according to crew) kicks in if there are eight or more full rows (I think it's 32 pax or more). Happens at lot on IST-LHR and I agree it makes little sense as there is more time to deliver the service on longer routes. It seems to be based on the logic that the overall service would be too slow if they did it properly. I have seen it take a long time so there is some justification but as far as I can tell the biggest factor is not the number of passengers but the willingness and capability of the particular crew on the day; the OP's example seems to reinforce that.

Deltus

Did you request a second drink? Admittedly, some crews could be more proactive in offering them, but failing that, you can always ask.

corporate-wage-slave

This is one of LGW's longest shorthaul services and by the sounds of it there were 2 crew in CE so I can't think of any reason for not doing the full service and multiple top ups afterwards, so about 4 rounds of drinks in all, certainly 3. If it was an early morning service, where people would be keen to have food/drink served quickly, then I could understand it to some degree, but not mid afternoon. I try to avoid conspiracy theories but of course the first two rows would probably have Gold cardholders in it who would know what is expected on this route - and who would probably complain if it came short. The crew do a very long day on that route, but that's not your problem.

Yes, very much agree, there is even a nice button available to assist with this. If I am fairly routinely getting 3 cups of tea from NCL to LHR in CE then I can't see the problem from FNC to LGW. Always best to raise it at the time, so any problem can be fixed. You can send in a complaint afterwards but it will never have the same impact as making your point at the time.