headingwest

Very interesting developments regarding the service in Euro Traveller. If BA are indeed serving complimentary water and snacks, that is certainly something that would bring me back. For me flying is about the whole experience, and after 5 years of actively shunning BA, I am now considering getting status with them again. Well done BA's new management!

jeremyBA

But is it?

I have no idea how many special meals there are on each flight, but I would suspect is is a small number.

This is far more complex and I suspect will apply to a greater volume of people. Unless the plan is that given it is pre order the uptake is so low that they can say "our customers tell us they dont want to eat".

BOB is ( in my view) spur of the moment. Yes I will have a Twix Bar.

If I am planning what I eat then in the majority of cases I can pick something up in the terminal that I fancy, probably freshly made, and probably for less.

If this was a good idea that was profitable and reduced waste I assume that Mr O'Leary would have given it a go by now!?

The cost of an ordering system, individual fulfilment, dealing with complaints of missing orders / substitutes for out of stock, refunds for missed connecting that were BAs fault etc must be higher than putting 24 ham and cheese on each flight?!

MFCC

The infrastructure is already there. Routes such as TLV, India’s, Middle East, YYZ all have historically had a significant number of SPMLs onboard. From experience on TLV it can be as high as 80%. This is no more complex than that really, and only loading what you need does have significant cost savings.
I’d expect promotional vouchers etc to be emailed too which will increase sales.
The interesting thing will be how it’s provided on the day. How easy or fast is it to dish out 150 orders on an AGP, IBZ, BCN, NCE etc?

13901

It is, it is. There are 30+ types of special meal recognised by IATA and if memory serves me right BA has 25+; on longhaul flights, which are roughly half of the BA network on a non-Covid day, there can be anything from a minimum of 20 to a maximum of 200 special meals. Seriously.

I ignore if Ryanair offers that system or not but don't forget that FR doesn't have the additional complexity of a Club cabin occupying half the galley space with its specific product. That's one of the key issues BA had.

The system for ordering meals already exists - it's the special meal! And I'd say that the system for handling refunds already exists too (seat bookings, ordering of 'enhanced' meals in Economy, Wi-Fi). Whether that works that's another matter. Also, you'd have a lot less wastage - which is still a cost - and, depending on what they're going to use for handling payments and so on, reduction in hardware. If you aren't selling in the air then you don't need the TourPos. Maybe a cheap car reader (if processing payments in the air) and, if they're smart, the iPhone crews have already been equipped with. I personally think this is a simpler process and a lot more fail-proof. Which doesn't mean that it won't backfire spectacularly on occasion, but at end of the day that's the nature of things. Airports are places where people drive vans into planes because they were trying to avoid the bright orange cones.

ThatT1Feeling

Totally agree. It was a key differentiator for BA's economy shorthaul service and, although I liked some of the aspects and increased choice of BoB, the lack of a free cup of tea really wound me up! This seems to be the best of both worlds.

corporate-wage-slave

It also gets around (almost) all the special diet options, or at least people can check their options before purchase. I presume the usual pre-flight email - the one with the Pressreader information - will come out slightly sooner to encourage pre-ordering from outstations, since 24 hours notice is needed. And they will be able to link in with higher margin "Shopping the World" tax free options at the same time.

Pre-ordering seems a good idea, but the wording relates to food, there may be a nuance on drinks. You can pre-order drinks too, but I am assuming that drinks can be bought onboard since there isn't much waste in that area anyway. And that tended to work OK under the old system, I can't recall a flight that ran out of tea bags. And implies an onboard gizmo, which was the bane of cabin crew's life.

The reason for all the "tapas" options, one of which was on the old BOB menu, is that they come in handy size MRE boxes with huge expiry dates on them.

BAeuro

So BA will be keeping free snacks for the foreseeable, I’m very pleased. Given all the cuts during this pandemic and Lufthansa switching to BOB, it’s really refreshing to see good news from BA. Here’s to the future

If Tea/Coffee/Water remains free though, I can’t see who would preorder it...

krispy84

👍 v good point on a possible distinction between food and drink.

I am far more likely to want a spur of the moment G&T or coffee than a sandwich, and BA would want to capture those extra sales. If that can be achieved without the waste involved in wraps and sandwiches, win win all round.

volar

I just looked at the Tom Kerridge page on BA.com and this says "You must pre-purchase your food and drink from the Speedbird Cafe before you fly as the menu is not available to buy onboard". So, that second G&T? "sorry sir you can't buy one, you had to pre-order"... Again, I can't really believe that this is the intention although it's there in black and white. Or if it is the intention then I think it's a really bad idea, and surely one which can only reduce income for BA and increase frustration for passengers. Let's wait and see though. As ever, what BA.com says may not reflect reality.

corporate-wage-slave

The Mediacentre version, shown above, isn't 101% clear on this point, but the gist of it implies food has to be pre-ordered and left drink out of the sentence.

cosmo74

The wine selection is disappointing - Sauvignon Blanc or England's answer to Sauvignon Blanc. Spanish Syrah or Spanish Syrah blend. And the Fever Tree hasn't returned either. It would have been nice to see a salad option in the food as well. I like the idea of pre-ordering, particularly for food, but I think not being able to buy drinks on board is going to cause real problems.

Steve_ZA

Can you order from this menu in CE and how they would handle upgrades?

Raffles

My understanding is that all drinks except water must be pre-ordered. I'm not sure that crew will even have payment machines.

BA asked us to change one thing in our article this morning and it wasn't the bit where I say it is crazy that you must pre-order a cup of tea.

gw76

Id struggle with the options on that menu. But I’m fussy yet bland.
Bring back ‘chicken...beef? chicken...beef?’
😀
There will be more than enough prompt and advertising during booking that if you dont notice you dont deserve anything!
Shame for those who change their mind on board.

BA6948

The big question is: would all items be prepackaged and sent to you seat or would CC need to package all items for each order on board. The first is going to create issues of storage. Mixing items of different sizes together reduces storage space. The second one is going to be a nightmare for FAs.