British Airways is making changes to its Club World meal service starting from this winter.
The service was introduced in 2017 on the London Heathrow to New York routes and has been gradually rolling out across the long-haul route network since.
The service saw new caterers employed on many routes, and a new method of serving the food which included a trolley service.
The quality of the food was well received, but the speed of the service was a problem.
Business Traveller reviewed this back in 2017 when it first appeared, and pointed out how slow it was when serving a large Club World cabin.
Despite various refinements made to both the food offering and service, as well as the training involved for thousands of flight attendants, the airline has now responded to feedback both from passengers and flight attendants and will remove the trolley service.
Business Traveller understands the changes will be as follows:
From the start of the winter schedule (October 28, 2018), the airline is “simplifying the Club World service by moving to hand-run delivery”.
Asked for further details, British Airways supplied the following:
- Priority order at beginning of service
- Separate meal and drink order (as per the original service routine)
- Starter order taken with main meal order
- Starter and dessert delivery fully hand-run
- Special meals delivered at the same time as standard meals
- Removal of the service trolley, etagere, wine bowl and associated equipment
A BA spokesperson said,
“Our £600m investment in Club World including the new catering and The White Company bedding is proving incredibly popular with customers and driving fantastic feedback around the quality and comfort of the experience.”
“We can’t be complacent though, and look to continuously improve by testing changes to the service style.”
On the negative side, it means there is no longer the chance to view the choice of food, though the choice is still stated on the menu.
On the positive side, the most criticised aspect of the service was the speed it took to complete its way through a large Club World Cabin.
One other point was a reduced strength gin and tonic because of the size of the attractive new glasses, although it was always the case that you could get a full strength drink if you asked.
(I’ve also heard that as well as Gordons, the second gin choice will be switched from Tanqueray to Bombay Sapphire.)
White Company products are still available on board.
Meanwhile we still have no information about the new Club World seat coming next year on the carrier’s A350s, though we do understand that it is likely to be retrofitted to the rest of the fleet (apart from the B747-400s which are being retired over coming years).
