Most indolent BA flight crew ever?

Old Feb 7, 2019, 3:56 am
  #16  
 
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F LHR-Newark recently: enthusiastic crew, pleasant enough but three of them didn't know how to work the table on the 787 and told me they had never done it before, but "the details are in the leaflet"! I often think of the LHR-IST crews as unmotivated as I am often on this route and the crew seem to spend as much time as possible in the galley even though they seem to get a decent layover there. There is a lot of time to provide a good service to passengers on that route but often they just don't seem bothered.
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 4:35 am
  #17  
 
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Originally Posted by chipster
F LHR-Newark recently: enthusiastic crew, pleasant enough but three of them didn't know how to work the table on the 787 and told me they had never done it before, but "the details are in the leaflet"! I often think of the LHR-IST crews as unmotivated as I am often on this route and the crew seem to spend as much time as possible in the galley even though they seem to get a decent layover there. There is a lot of time to provide a good service to passengers on that route but often they just don't seem bothered.
thats a shame, the best BA crew I ever had was on an LHR-IST way back in 2014. Incidentally the only crew member I can recall being looked after on more than one flight. Was genuinely delighted when I had her again on another flight
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 6:50 am
  #18  
 
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I had a near-identical experience (to OP) when flying LHR-YVR in CW last Jan (tired old 747, upper deck, half-empty, made to feel a nuisance for e.g. asking for red wine top-up when my meal arrived, then eventually having to go to galley to get it myself while they chatted and dawdled over trays, because I had specifically wanted it to go with the beef and there was no sign of it - just one example).

The relation to original post is to ask, is there any connection between 'less valued routes' and equipment/service (older planes, poorly-motivated crew, low passenger loads)? This occasion certainly felt like a 'poor relation' flight compared to LHR-JFK.
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 7:32 am
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The crew members should be identified and then sacked. If they don't want the job, there are plenty of others that do!
Shame to let the airline / brand and rest of the hard working crew down like this.
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 8:16 am
  #20  
 
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[QUOTE=stevie;30749403]BA management are hardly going to admit their introduction of MF crew on lower wages and worse conditions are neg

Last edited by HMPS; Feb 7, 2019 at 8:19 am Reason: Deleted- wrong placement of comments on my part.
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 8:24 am
  #21  
 
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Originally Posted by chipster
F LHR-Newark recently: enthusiastic crew, pleasant enough but three of them didn't know how to work the table on the 787 and told me they had never done it before, but "the details are in the leaflet"! I often think of the LHR-IST crews as unmotivated as I am often on this route and the crew seem to spend as much time as possible in the galley even though they seem to get a decent layover there. There is a lot of time to provide a good service to passengers on that route but often they just don't seem bothered.
Originally Posted by GCab
I had a near-identical experience (to OP) when flying LHR-YVR in CW last Jan (tired old 747, upper deck, half-empty, made to feel a nuisance for e.g. asking for red wine top-up when my meal arrived, then eventually having to go to galley to get it myself while they chatted and dawdled over trays, because I had specifically wanted it to go with the beef and there was no sign of it - just one example).

The relation to original post is to ask, is there any connection between 'less valued routes' and equipment/service (older planes, poorly-motivated crew, low passenger loads)? This occasion certainly felt like a 'poor relation' flight compared to LHR-JFK.
In such cases : Should we worry about their training etc in case of an emergency / safety issues?

Originally Posted by WingsAroundtheWorld
The crew members should be identified and then sacked. If they don't want the job, there are plenty of others that do!
Shame to let the airline / brand and rest of the hard working crew down like this.
Why fire them ? Who recruited and trained them ? Who supervises them ? Why not FIRE THEM ?
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 9:58 am
  #22  
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Originally Posted by GCab
The relation to original post is to ask, is there any connection between 'less valued routes' and equipment/service (older planes, poorly-motivated crew, low passenger loads)? This occasion certainly felt like a 'poor relation' flight compared to LHR-JFK.
On my regular routes, I've had great crews, I've had OK crews and I've had duff crews. For that matter, I've had great aircraft, OK aircraft and duff aircraft. And my worst-ever CW flight was a LHR-JFK.

So IMHO the answer is no.
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 10:26 am
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Whenever I think, yeah, give British Airways a try, maybe things have gotten better, I find the journey horrible and staff barely willing to do their job.

But, I’ll try again in six months. See what happens.
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Old Feb 7, 2019, 4:11 pm
  #24  
 
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Originally Posted by Flight44
Whenever I think, yeah, give British Airways a try, maybe things have gotten better, I find the journey horrible and staff barely willing to do their job.

But, Ill try again in six months. See what happens.
An eternal optimist, eh ?
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 12:09 am
  #25  
 
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Wanted to provide some positive feedback. Flew BA123 F to Doha 31/1 MF crew that were excellent, good service, friendly without being intrusive. I fly 4-5 times a year, a mix of long haul F and CE, and agree the crew make a big difference to the experience. Generally I find crew, MF or not, to be good with the occasional disappointment.
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 12:22 am
  #26  
 
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Shame to hear about the OP's experience. I've only flown BA 3 or 4 times (as I'm Melbourne based) and each time I've found the crew to be excellent. Not too "in your face" but competent, friendly and engaging. My favorite ever crew member was on BA SIN>LHR upper deck. I can't remember her name but I remember she lived in Brighton, England. Wonderful lady to chat to, and she looked after my 2 boys like they were her own.
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 1:23 am
  #27  
 
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We had a very similar experience as the OP on a flight back from JFK last year. Seated on the upper deck on a red-eye the crew was so dismissive and gave the impression that they could not be bothered. Was a struggle to get dinner and any request (e.g. another glass of water) was met with a huff and a long wait.

Can understand the flight time may have played a part, but not the kind of service you would expect in business. On the plus side, me and the wife still joke about it and the experience has been set as the benchmark for comparison of all other crews.
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 1:31 am
  #28  
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Originally Posted by Globaliser
On my regular routes, I've had great crews, I've had OK crews and I've had duff crews. For that matter, I've had great aircraft, OK aircraft and duff aircraft. And my worst-ever CW flight was a LHR-JFK.

So IMHO the answer is no.
Absolutely. Ive also had great service on busy flights, poor service on quiet trips, amazing service down the back and crappy up front. There is no rhyme or reason.
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 1:56 am
  #29  
 
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I'm not and never have been cabin crew. However, I used to work in a bar. For the first few months, the manager (later fired for stealing) was lazy and we all followed his lead. We'd sit around drinking and eating whatever we wanted for free. We served customers of course, but they felt like a distraction and we never rushed. We didn't usually bother clearing glasses as we found that eventually customers brought them back themselves. It was fun!

After he was fired the new manager ran a tight ship. We weren't allowed any alcohol, only soft drinks. If anyone offered to buy us a drink we would say we're not allowed and can they please tip in the jar instead if they wanted. We cleaned glasses, served customers with a smile and generally ran around keeping things clean and organised. For the first few days I missed lazing around and the free drinks! But then I realised I enjoyed the "proper" working environment more. I felt a sense of achievement, customers were happy, and it led to a small promotion (well, as far as a student can be promoted working in a pub!).

Why type all that self-indulgent stuff? What I'm saying is ... I'd expect all/most BA crew to do a great job if their leader motivates them by doing the same. So the fault lies with the CSD/CSM or whatever the manager is called.
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Old Feb 8, 2019, 2:34 am
  #30  
 
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Most of my recent LH have been MF, some of the crews have been fine, others have been fantastic really proactive. My worst crew in the last year was a WW which was just going through the bare minimum on the way back to LHR. As I just wanted to sleep after the PHX do I was fine, requested what I wanted and passed out.

At LHR loads of muttering from other passengers. As has been said, managers with a poor attitude produce poor staff, good managers produce good staff. My best flights always seem to have the CSM/CSD/Purser that appears to want to provide a good service. If BA are to improve consistency they should be reviewing their managers and properly rewarding the good ones.
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