krispy84

I think it is borderline absurd to cancel a family holiday to the Maldives (assuming it isn’t somewhere you travel to regularly) because of some airport disruption and the subsequent media pile-in.

I mean no offence to the OP.

DYKWIA

Not everything you read on the internet actually happened...

JAXBA

I'd like a balance of service and price please. I'd rather pay more for BA, and get the premium service they're supposed to give, than fly with no-frills.

Premium service in a premium cabin isn't a frill, yet the service in First and Club has been directly affected by BA's crewing levels, first from cost-cutting, and then by the pandemic affecting staffing.

HIDDY

I agree...my comment was tongue in cheek. We'll have to pay more for our tickets in future if we want excellent service.That won't go down too well with everyone.

ermis177

But why? Why do we have to pay more? May I ask you once again when was the last time you flew with BA in business or first and did you find the tickets cheap? BA is charging premium prices like other airlines do and currently they have a reduced service if you are lucky in long haul or major delays or cancellations if you are unlucky.

sl1ppy

I assume you're talking about bus tickets, surely you're not planning a flight

subject2load

I guess it’s a matter of how much more.

No secret that it is very often possible to pay (as many FT-ers regularly do) less than what BA ask, and yet receive a high level of inflight service with quality catering standards, on various other carriers. Attractive fares and a top product are by no means mutually exclusive. Quelle surprise.

I’ve been very motivated to try BA business once again for long-haul ever since the much-anticipated new Club seating was rolled out. The CS would have been my personal catalyst to use BA not just on s/h but l/h too ; but now the LCC-style meal service has dented my enthusiasm somewhat.

In essence, there is a real prospect of BA developing a reputation for both high fares and sub-par service levels, a sort of worst-of-both worlds combination.

As for ‘frills’ ……. BA have never really offered ‘frills’ or innovative benefits to premium passengers : for that you’d have to look to airlines like EK (chauffeured cars to & from airport, inflight lounge-bar), QR (DoD in business, inflight lounge-bar) or even WY (PJ’s in biz, DoD, albeit limited network) BUT all the evidence is that BA have been hiking prices at the very time they are falling short of what could be reasonably expected in return for those same high fares.

On the wider point of improvements, the initial focus must inevitably be on simply restoring the status quo of pre-pandemic service levels. That in itself is proving to be quite a challenge, which in turn raises the question of just how far off are genuine ‘new’ improvements of the sort which would begin to raise standards - both in the air and on the ground - as promised in the January (IIRC ?) press release.

T8191

HOW MUCH?? We have done 3 l/h holidays in CW over the last 6 months or so, but the fiscal brakes are now firmly applied.
How cheap is Cheap? Depends on your personal POV, surely? But for us, accustomed to regular CW/CE trips, the prices are just waaaaay beyond what we are willing to pay.
It’s not the standard of on-board service or the airport experiences, it’s just far too expensive. We will wait unril something resembling normality resumes, and settle for our Jet2 trip to Yorkshire in August for now. And use the money to pay the Builders who start work next week.

jeremyBA

Many seem to want some form or relationship with the crew. This always mystifies me. Lots of reference to banter etc.

it is a bus. I want to get on it and off it. If it is a long flight I need food and drink delivered. If a short flight I want to read my book.

I specifically don’t want to listen to long and loud announcements , have my meal hand walked fro the galley - just stick it on a trolly and give it to me. Don’t try and pretend I am in a high class restaurant. I am not. Do the basics right and ignore everything else. Just my view

choosethedrew

I get this. I don’t care about how the meal is delivered, or whether the crew make me feel treasured. Divert that focus and those resources back into the actual product, the food and the drink first and foremost. Honestly I couldn’t care if the crew aren’t even wearing uniform, or call me mate, Hawksmoor has proved that can still be combined with decent service.

HIDDY

I totally agree. I love to fly longhaul in J for the extra space alone. Not at all interested in the brand of Champagne or food. I get that served to me at home by my lovely wife....as long as I've been behaving myself.

AirbusA350

Regarding staffing, I do believe BA were trying to ramp up recruitment once the winter 2021 season (in aviation terms, not literally seasonal terms) started, however, US gov's decision to reopen in November definitely came as a welcome surprise to many including so-called aviation analysts. Merely a week or so before the announcement was made about reopening in November, there was a lot of whisper and talk going round in the media that a border reopening may have not come round till perhaps the start of 2022 summer season on 27th March. Even Grant Shapps wasn't briefed in advance about it despite "high-level talks" with his US counterpart since 2020 lol - appalling, how rude of US gov! (Sarcasm intended lol)

Then of course once the reopening was confirmed for November, it all then became a bit of a frantic rush of which the effects we are truly seeing now as countries are opening up almost like dominoes one after the other.

Having said that, the furlough scheme lasted until September 30th 2021 in the UK, they quite easily could have kept on a huge chunk of staff, who I'm sure would've been happy to be furloughed and ready to come back shortly after. They didn't need to coerce (some would say virtually blackmailed) so many thousands of former staff and then get themselves into a staffing bottleneck! I believe the main issues relating to staffing are the delays in security clearances for airside passes which was slow pre-pandemic, never mind now. From what I hear, they have the right numbers in the pipeline now (hence why public recruitment for say ground staff and cabin crew has stopped - bar existing LHR and STN pass holders) but delays before they can actually be "ready" to start their jobs. I suspect this will persist through the S22 flying season and improvements should be seen (gradually) from W22 season.

Geordie405

I agree totally. Prices are off the chart at the moment. I have a UK trip booked for May and that is $1800 in WTP. Looking at a similar duration trip in August / September and it's $3255 in WTP and a whopping $9500 in Club. Those prices are just insane. I agree it's got nothing to do with the quality of the wine, or whether you're getting all courses on a single tray. It's simply cost.

steveholt

More than this specific viewpoint, it's good to keep in mind that different guests may want drastically different experiences, especially when you consider the range of guests beyond the people you talk to on FT. One person's curt interactions is another person's ideal. Good cabin crew (or good people in any customer-facing role) can suss that out and react accordingly, and the pricing is another issue altogether, but too often here one's desired experience is treated as the ideal for all guests.

USA_flyer

Absolutely. If I was spending thousands on a flight, I would expect a decent meal or two and, never to see my wine glass empty until I wished to sleep on a bed comfier than I'd find at a travelodge.