[MrMichael]

Had a coffee and beef sarnie today on MAD-LON….most agreeable.

[ontherunhome]

Returned from Marseille to LHR yesterday. CE had one passenger, in 3 rows. Crew came out and asked ET crew if they wanted help which was declined. I think they managed to do the whole cabin, but something i saw was really upsetting. On at least 2 occasions they served passengers, then had to un-serve them, as they had neither avios or cards to pay. Clearly the directors owe a responsibility to shareholders, and if by refusing cash they are not serving their shareholders. And losing profits, sack the boss I say. The day before on an Easyjet flight, they took cash and cards. Cant be that hard.
Maybe the aim is that after a customer focused research project, it has been found uptake of BOB is not good, therefore we will no longer provide this service.
Surely the aim is to turn a cost centre to a profit centre, not taking cash is absurd, and not good customer service.

[esselle]

It’s another BA service enhancement. Trouble is that taking cash actually costs money, so they prefer not to do it.

[MarcusGB]

I walked past a BA flight to Nice leaving T3 at LHR a few days ago, on my way to a flight to the Middle East. I noticed several people rushing to check in as it was boarding, but then checking and discussing about “change for the food and drinks”, some stopping in their tracks!

Perhaps a coin change machine at the gate would be very useful, perhaps even an on Board raffle for a complimentary sandwich and hot drink!
I fail to see why anyone would want to fly BA these days, with charges for everything, and complete lies told by the CEO specifically being asked about these paid for services over several years.
Low cost at LHR, for the same price as other Airlines!
How demeaning for the crew now, on their less than minimum wage salaries also.
I would not support or give a penny to fly such a Company, untruthful, staff treated shockingly, and more and more cut out, even for “Club Europe” passengers.

Better to opt for a smaller local airport, pay a flat fare for what you use and you do not, with an open, honest low cost carrier. Perhaps Easyjet would better be described as the UK’s National Airline now.

[FDOS_UK]

Perhaps Easyjet would better be described as the UK’s National Airline now

By passenger numbers, it is.

[esselle]

First flight on BA since the introduction of BOB. LHR-MAN and majority of pax were leisure travellers connecting from inbound longhaul, so not much sold as far as I could see.

I did wonder about some of the marketing guff……….”authentic Italian style…..” (either it is authentic, or it isn’t), “……..every (coffee) cup individually hand roasted……” (really?). The family making the fizzy drinks get all their ingredients from as close to their Sussex premises as possible “……..get all their apples and pears from England….”.

And the two choices of white wine are both made from the same grape, sauvignon blanc, so not much choice there.

And no Merolest in sight.

[rferguson]

Flew from VIE-LHR yesterday. Disaster. Pre reserved the exit row (12) on the airbus. Three crew working in Eurotraveller. Two on trolley in cabin. One in the galley. The two crew on the trolley served rows 8-10, then went to the back of the aircraft and started from the rear back to row 10. Bizzare.

Worst thing – NO sandwiches by the time they reached me (an hour after take off). The crew were flustered and it was just all so amateur.

OK – I understand the concept of launching Buy on Board as BA states it’s all about ‘offering more choice’. What a load of old bol*ocks! You can’t get anything to eat!

As usual it’s all about the shambolic way BA has launched it. There was never ONE single ‘live’ trial flight. The equipment is already failing and the ‘contactless’ function they were initially hailing as being a massive time saver still hasn’t been installed. But the biggest issue is the lack of food loaded! On an internal forum ages ago when BA initially announced BOB it was the crew that asked this important question – What happens if not enough food is loaded? The management reply was along the lines of ‘well what we plan on doing is massively over cater initially so we can monitor the uptake’. This obviously has NOT happened.

And given that there were no proper live trial flights why not phase in introduction to iron out any gliches? For example launching it ex LGW for a couple months or only on domestics? The mind really does boggle.

***Personal opinions only***

[FDOS_UK]

I read Campaign as part of my professional life and noted this article when I looked this morning.

http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/bland-british-airways-lift/1422342

The anti-BA momentum is building and a sharp executive team would note this and react very quickly – providing a new soft product in CW won’t be enough to stop the spread of the jarring mood music – the vast majority of BA pax fly in the economy cabin.

Let’s see what they do.

[mkcol74]

This was shared on my Faceache timeline https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/have-british-airways-lost-plot-scott-martin

[FDOS_UK]

mkcol74

Hard to disagree with that article.

Some people find ways of making BA work for them (Martyn Sinclair’s operating model, as described previously on BT, is clever and fits his needs well), but for most people BA is becoming something of a last resort or a low cost option.

I’ve just booked a return flight to Abu Dhabi, from Manchester, in WTP and got quite a bit of change out of £600 – I’ll take my own meals for that price – it was only just over £100 more than EY economy and the WTP cabin on a 787 is world class.

[JohnHarper]

FDoS, interesting if BA are really becoming a low cost option. I remember people doing some comparisons on here at different times last year and BA seemed always to be the most expensive option.

I’ve traveled a number of times from TXL-LHR recently and I’ve used Germanwings Best fare which gives you food, blocked middle seat, 2 checked bags and 2 carry ons, lounge access and so on the only thing missing is the curtain and it has come in about £130 cheaper return than club europe every time and often cheaper than BoB economy.

[PhilipHart]

@JohnHarper It’s worth remembering that “Low Cost” is a business philosophy, and doesn’t always result in a “Low Price” product/service for the end consumer.

[FDOS_UK]

John

I was using ‘low cost’ in the sense that I’ll buy it if the price fits (so it is low cost from my perspective).

Philip

You are right that a low cost philosophy that does not always lead to a low user price. However, adopting this generic strategy is usually contingent on being able to leverage competitive advantage from your lower cost base – not something legacy airlines can usually accomplish – BA or LH will never get near Ryanair’s cost base, IMHO.

[DerekVH]

Correct me if I am wrong but I recall one of BA’s main arguments for introducing BOB was to give passengers a choice. Queue this month’s interview with Alex Cruse in “Up to Speed” he declares he is absolutely happy with how the service is going and that the payment machines are now much more reliable and food loading is improving. He says only 2.5 per cent of flights now run out of fresh food. He then goes on to say that crew and customers have to understand that not everyone can have their first choice. In other words you can have what’s left on the trolley like it or lump it much as it was before BOB!

[DerekVH]

Apologies to Mr Cruz (or should that be curse) – there e is no edit button on my post!

[Author]

Posts