[mkcol74]

@Handbag Thanks for clarifying the hats, I’d lost track in the real world so it was nice to see it written down. How bloody confusing though!

[mkcol74]

@TomInScotland I had very similar from the CSM on the BA15 while sat on the ground in SIN waiting to go to SYD a couple of weeks ago. Could see him work his way down the cabin saying hello to the golds (I was in 2nd last row of Y so had plenty of time to watch), got to us, did his spiel which was quite pleasant & natural, then said he hoped we didn’t have too many bags as he’d found 2 seats for us in WTP. Likewise the cabins weren’t full, maybe 60% or so.

[SimonS1]

What a cad you are FDOS. Making such juvenile comments. Really I’m always surprised that people really expect to get what they have paid for.

As for MF I just assumed it was another cost cutting exercise. All part of the dumbing down of BA I’m afraid. Nothing wrong with the people themselves, but when you replace experienced staff with minimum wage types there will always be issues. Add to that issues in IT and resulted in the lights going out, and the same will happen in the call centres with the outsourcing to Capita. Fine if you are looking for a cheap HBO return to Malaga, but if you want to use a GUF2 or a premium return to South Africa then I wish you the best of luck.

Time will tell whether this all works out for BA. Teresa May gambled and lost spectacularly, maybe uncle Alex is doing the same.

The most successful airline in the world? Wasn’t the Titanic once the world’s premier cruise liner?

[FDOS_UK]

Really I’m always surprised that people really expect to get what they have paid for.

Oh, but I do get what I pay for. a decent WTP seat and change from £700 for a return to AUH. That’s usually only a few quid more than Emirates in Y.

I don’t expect anything approaching decent service from miffed fleet, though I do agree that there is nothing wrong with (most) of the people, who simply have not been trained/developed to the appropriate level for their role on an allegedly premier airline. A significant minority behave like prats, though, per Steve Scoot’s comments ealier upthread. They also call a lot of strikes, which is a pain.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=813237]

Really I’m always surprised that people really expect to get what they have paid for.

Oh, but I do get what I pay for. a decent WTP seat and change from £700 for a return to AUH. That’s usually only a few quid more than Emirates in Y.

I don’t expect anything approaching decent service from miffed fleet, though I do agree that there is nothing wrong with (most) of the people, who simply have not been trained/developed to the appropriate level for their role on an allegedly premier airline. A significant minority behave like prats, though, per Steve Scoot’s comments ealier upthread. They also call a lot of strikes, which is a pain.

[/quote]

You bounder FDOS.

WTP for a few quid more than Emirates economy eh. Soon you will have people saying how Emirates J and BA F are the same thing ?

[rferguson]

[quote quote=813106]

rferguson wrote:

Atlanta is operated by Mixed Fleet currently.

without being ageist, the crew involved in J would be legacy.

[/quote]

It’s quite an interesting one actually Steve. You are right….there are a LOT of very young crew on MF. Some would say too many too young and last year the company wanted to address this with recruiting more people with ‘life experience’ and ‘maturity’. So basically now you see MF crew fall into more or less two groups – the very young and the 45+. A lot of the 45+ crew are in a position where they are relatively financially stable in their life and money is not a priority. Many are ex fliers who left flying many years ago to bring up kids, some are even fliers that retired when the mandatory retirement age was 52 and have returned. Others are people that have come from other sectors and just want to try something different for a while. What you’ll seldom see is the 30-something age group. The ones typically aspiring for a mortgage or raising a family. The MF pay and rostering definitely does not allow for that group.

[capetonianm]

BA need to make all the friends they can. Little gestures such as the above can go a long way.

[AlanOrton1]

Returned with a MF crew last night from MIA. There were a couple who I guess were 45+, alongside a generally youngish crew.
I received a Gold welcome(!), staff were friendly, professional though perhaps if being critical not overly polished.
But then again they have a tough job when being compared with Legacy crew, who IMHO, when they are on form are hard to beat out of any cabin crew on any airline. (Gave my Gold Ticket to a lady looking after the Y cabin on my outbound to JFK).

I wonder if posters have any thoughts on MF v VS crew?
I’ve not flown VS in a while, but always found their crew to be pretty mediocre across the board.

[MartynSinclair]

I took a European flight today and only noticed it was MF due to the tell tale signs, described in this thread. The CSM was a young lad (he was trying hard), the girls had hats and the duty free was offered 10 minutes before landing with no time to deliver… so not sure why it was offered.

The BoB was very slow… but we got to our destination safe, sound and on time.

However, one thing did stand out, which doesn’t usually interest me, but on this flight, with the boyz.. it did. I got my first hello Mr Sinclair, gold card welcome mid flight, in full ear shot of the team… First gold card welcome for…. cant remember when the last one was….

[FDOS_UK]

You bounder FDOS.

WTP for a few quid more than Emirates economy eh. Soon you will have people saying how Emirates J and BA F are the same thing ?

Isn’t it QR who has a J better than BA’s F? 😉

[TiredOldHack2]

My experience is that when BA’s cabin crews are on form, their service is superb. Probably the best. Sadly, their performance is inconsistent.

Currently in South Africa having flown out to CPT in one of those ancient 747s. Cabin service was very good on that trip. Flying back on Wednesday evening, and will see what transpires then. Going to AMS via LHR, and then heading straight out to SCL via MAD (look, this schedule and routing wasn’t planned, OK?). Am praying I get the revamped biz cabin on the Iberia flight to SCL. That reminds me – I’ll check on Seatplans what I’ll get.

Anyway, coming back to SA in November (holiday, this time) and have deliberately selected the A380 flights out and back because the aircraft is light years ahead of the 747.

EDIT: It’s a 340. Damn. Can’t find out what it’s got.

[SimonS1]

[quote quote=813346]
EDIT: It’s a 340. Damn. Can’t find out what it’s got.

[/quote]

4 engines and 12 wheels I believe ?

[Montysaurus]

[quote quote=813298]

stevescoots wrote:

rferguson wrote:

Atlanta is operated by Mixed Fleet currently.

without being ageist, the crew involved in J would be legacy.

It’s quite an interesting one actually Steve. You are right….there are a LOT of very young crew on MF. Some would say too many too young and last year the company wanted to address this with recruiting more people with ‘life experience’ and ‘maturity’. So basically now you see MF crew fall into more or less two groups – the very young and the 45+. A lot of the 45+ crew are in a position where they are relatively financially stable in their life and money is not a priority. Many are ex fliers who left flying many years ago to bring up kids, some are even fliers that retired when the mandatory retirement age was 52 and have returned. Others are people that have come from other sectors and just want to try something different for a while. What you’ll seldom see is the 30-something age group. The ones typically aspiring for a mortgage or raising a family. The MF pay and rostering definitely does not allow for that group.

[/quote]

[nevereconomy]

I have always tried to stay out of the BA bashing issue. I have flown all over the world with them for 30 odd years in all classes and for a very long time they were a praiseworthy organization – predictable, reliable, safe ..had Gold for 15 years and Silver for a few. The crew was always the high point, but recent experiences indicate that they have had enough and no longer can or wish to provide an acceptable level of service. This will be my last year with Tier Status – maybe Bronze – have not even checked. I fly mostly C or F so I will have a Lounge and priority check-in whoever I use. The rot is just too deep for it to be an enjoyable experience any longer. From now on whoever offers the best premium experience for the destination will be my choice.

[Flightlevel]

Strike off and further negotiations with arbitrator – about staff travel.

[Author]

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