Improvements on British Airways' short-haul on-board catering

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  • camilledup
    Blocked

    Which improvements would you like to see on the short-haul on-board catering of British Airways?


    LuganoPirate
    Participant

    A free sandwich and a drink at the very least.


    camilledup
    Blocked

    [quote quote=845504]Economy and short-haul flights for any type of passengers[/quote]

    Economy and short-haul flights for any type of passengers


    capetonianm
    Participant

    Rearranging the deck chairs on the Titanic is what comes to mind here.


    MartynSinclair
    Participant

    Cut the onboard service altogether on shorthaul flights and let passengers buy from a cart pre boarding by the gate..

    Recipe for a more peaceful flight ..


    BugAdvisor
    Participant

    I don’t really mind paying for food – although on the 8/1 PRG-LHR I found my usual hot sandwich had been removed from the menu and replaced with an inferior version.

    Drinks should be free.

    It would be a nice gesture to offer Gold (and maybe Silver) club members free food.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    It would be a nice gesture to offer Gold (and maybe Silver) club members free food.

    BA don’t do ‘nice gestures’, for a start.

    As good as this idea is in theory, its implementation would be difficult and I can see it causing embarrassment and awkwardness for cabin crews and resentment from passengers who don’t get the ‘free’ food. Can you imagine being CC, already a challenging job, and having to confront that on a daily basis?

    BA wants to become an LCC and are heading that way, but their methodology in doing so is devious and sly. When he started easyJet, Stelios Haji-Iannou (sp?) said : “There’s no such thing as a free lunch, so I won’t give you one.” Simplistic as that truth is, it hit the nail on the head.

    The main difference is that EZY and FR have done it properly, BA is a mess, trying to be all things to all people. It’s time for Sr. Cruz to go on a long one way cruise.


    canucklad
    Participant

    BMI had this policy when they introduced BOB, and it made a pig’s ear of it.
    And It was partly experiencing this service that made me so anti BOB on legacy airlines

    BMI’s brand took a real hit and LH as the parent company really should have known better.

    Back to the original question, I used to love the hot breakfast on the shuttle down to LHR.
    A nice way to start the day.

    But as capetonianm said, BA don’t do “nice gestures” , never mind serving up a fry up.

    So I’ll stick to the true LCC and give my money to FlyBe. An airline not pretending to be something their not!!


    christ
    Participant

    AA do a great job on internal flights of offering BA Gold passengers free drinks (well got given 2 jack daniels) and something from the snack menu for free. They also gave a blue member on the same booking (sitting next to me), the same.

    If AA can do it for BA gold passengers, BA should be able to offer the same to its own.

    Separately the new AA First lounge at Miami beat any BA lounge!


    EU_Flyer
    Participant

    [quote quote=845629]Cut the onboard service altogether on shorthaul flights and let passengers buy from a cart pre boarding by the gate..
    Recipe for a more peaceful flight ..
    [/quote]

    I really like this idea. It can be fully operated by M&S and reduce the weight of trolleys/ unsold food etc on board. However, might be a problem at non-UK outstations though? Unless a crew member wheels a trolley out to the concourse and starts selling? I can see the unions and airports loving that option -NOT. I can also see chaos ensuing when the aircraft is parked remotely or on a tight turnaround. Still anything that adds to a peaceful flight is major thumbs up for me.

    I don’t have a problem with BoB anymore. So long as the lounge food offering is ok, I can handle not eating on board for a few hours or bringing my own. It also makes lounge access (therefore status) more attractive to keep.

    But free water bottles should be supplied given the dehydration that comes from flying.

    I say all this as a Star Gold FF who hasn’t flown BA regularly for years, so probably not the best contributor.


    capetonianm
    Participant

    But free water bottles should be supplied given the dehydration that comes from flying.

    I agree, but plastic has become a huge problem globally. Everything possible should be done to discourage sale and distribution of water in plastic bottles. I completely understand that distributing water in plastic bottles is extremely practical and cost effective, and that is the reason that the problem has grown exponentially to become so serious.

    On board water supplies should be dispensed from the type of 5 litre containers that you get in water machines in offices. I know that’s plastic too, but it is used over and over again. The cups should be paper, or maybe proper glass for premium classes, as some airlines still seem to allow glass on board for this purpose.

    That said, as the topic of this thread is ‘short haul’ is it really necessary to give out water at all? My solution would be to provide drinking water fountains at the departure gates, but of course the airports would hate that as they would lose out on sales of bottled water, not to mention the chance to scan boarding passes for the purchase!


    EU_Flyer
    Participant

    [quote quote=845705]

    But free water bottles should be supplied given the dehydration that comes from flying.

    I agree, but plastic has become a huge problem globally. Everything possible should be done to discourage sale and distribution of water in plastic bottles. I completely understand that distributing water in plastic bottles is extremely practical and cost effective, and that is the reason that the problem has grown exponentially to become so serious.
    On board water supplies should be dispensed from the type of 5 litre containers that you get in water machines in offices. I know that’s plastic too, but it is used over and over again. The cups should be paper, or maybe proper glass for premium classes, as some airlines still seem to allow glass on board for this purpose.
    That said, as the topic of this thread is ‘short haul’ is it really necessary to give out water at all? My solution would be to provide drinking water fountains at the departure gates, but of course the airports would hate that as they would lose out on sales of bottled water, not to mention the chance to scan boarding passes for the purchase!
    [/quote]

    Very interesting points. Our reliance on plastic is terrible and many of us (including me) don’t think about it enough.

    They could install a sprinkler system?


    SwissExPat
    Participant

    Reinstate the system from 1 year ago..

    Trolley with snacks and Beer/wine/spirits/water/tea/coffee distributed to PAX who paid for it in their ticket price as a full service airline.

    Simple.

    [If Swiss can do this between ZRH and LHR then so should BA]


    capetonianm
    Participant

    If Swiss can do this between ZRH and LHR then so should BA

    I fear you miss a point.
    Swiss is run by …….. the Swiss.
    BA is run by a motley ban of rejects.


    FDOS_UK
    Participant

    Unfortunately, the IMG link isn’t working 🙁

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