Yellowbelly

Flew back to the UK last week on B787-8 registration G-ZBJF that was delivered in May 2014 so is four year old. I was in the World Traveller Plus cabin and was surprised at the poor state of the cabin interior. Two passengers next to me had IFE that did not work (11 hour flight) and part of the divider between CW and WT+ was held in the open position by gaffer tape - see photo above.
Also there are only three toilets for the WT and WT+ cabins (179 seats) but one of the toilets between rows 27 and 30 started the flight with no locking door or light and finished locked out of use. The flight was full so you can imagine the queues.
I cannot see these interiors lasting the many years that BA tend to have planes in their fleet and wonder if the poor quality is down to maintenance or cost cutting during the initial purchase.
Would be interesting to see if there are more similar stories or photos of gaffer tape use.
PS The cabin crew were fantastic, some of the best I have experienced and made the flight memorable.

V10

Could be misuse by passengers too. You won't have to look too long on here to find other displays of gaffer tape use on BA planes. "make do and mend" like this is quite a British thing, and if anything it's possibly also a case of the expectations of how long things ought to last not meeting the reality when unpredictable elements like humans start getting involved that even ridiculous amounts of over-engineering can't completely eliminate.

Where I do agree there is a problem is expecting 179 economy and WTP passengers to share 3 toilets. It only takes one of these to go out of action and once these start being overused they can go downhill quite rapidly. Even economy passengers deserve better.

Mike P

Doesn't sound a pleasant experience, particularly in relation to the lavatory situation which sounds unacceptable. Glad that the crew were good though.

cupsandsaucers

Gaffer tape to us is just gaffer tape.
But to an already nervous/anxious flyer (of which there are many), the sight of tape "holding the plane together"is really bad news. Not good BA.

BERbound

Still, it could have been worse ......

kosy91

What service compensation would BA offer or no working IFE on a 11 hour flight in WTP?

UKtravelbear

Oh come on. This is a rather minor interior, aesthetic non structural fitting. It could have broken on the way out and this is a temp fix until it returns to base for a proper repair.

Would you have the entire flight cancelled because of something that has no bearing on the flight operating safely?

The toilet issue is far more serious though.

Oaxaca

On a recent flight in CW on a LGW 772, the CSM utilised copious quantities of gaffer tape, which she referred to as “engineering tape”, along with an infant seatbelt, to try and hold Master O’s broken IFE screen in the open position. She cheerfully told me that its use is a regular occurrence, she won’t do a 772 flight from LGW without a roll onboard...

ttama

Never seen it used on any other airline. I suppose it could have been a very temporary thing, but it's embarrassing to see on our "national" airline.

rpjs

The very first flight I took was on BA and was on a 747-200 with copious amounts of tape on display. That made me then try VS and various American carriers but on balance I found BA to be best.

BertieBadger

Per this post: https://www.flyertalk.com/forum/29800882-post10.html

I would expect 5k Avios/£30

Mike P

5000 Avios or £20 is the standard level of compensation according to CIHY on another recent thread. Valuing the Avios at 1p each, I'd take the Avios option but would also try pushing for a higher level of compensation.

BertieBadger

I would presume that is Speedtape? (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Speed_tape). An example of when looks can be deceiving?

morges1

Almost from day 1, the 789s had tape across the holes in first class seats where people had managed to break/knock off the fixed seat lamps!

T8191

I've seen plenty on AA, and missing panels too.

The start of the 'problem' is the essential lightweight engineering for all these cabin components. Reinforce it enough to survive daily use by pax and the aircraft would never get airborne!