[DavidP2014]

How many have you observed with own food parcels??

[PegasusAir]

Are they still not offering the Daily Telegraph in the T5 First lounge – I am just about to write about a more serious issue but will include reference to this unless they have recently started providing them again. Minor issue but annoying. Symptomatic of penny pinching.

[canucklad]

I was under the impression that the complimentary newspapers that are offered to us to peruse are supplied to the vendor at no cost. I’m sure the newspaper uses the bulk delivery of the publication to hotels,airlines as a marketing tool to entice companies to purchase advertising space.

As for the toilet humour on the previous page…….If you’ve got a wee bit of Delhi belly you must surely choose The Guardian as your paper of choice.

[Stowage222]

D Telegraph still on board BA a/c but fewer copies I notice.

[SimonS1]

@ Canucklad – true that you get more squares from a sheet of the Guardian. However you have to exercise caution as the print tends to come off….

@Alkaseltzer – true these things are often outsourced, however it’s the airline’s issue to manage the suppliers.

[rferguson]

Sometimes it feels one step forward two steps back. There were some nice little developments being (re)introduced on the A380 in W/Y that were to be rolled out across the longhaul network – pretzels again with the bar drink. Sparkling wine as a pre departure drink in addition to the OJ and water in WTP. An ice cream service mid flight. Now ALL of these have quietly been dropped. In fact the sparkling wine has been removed from economy altogether.

Regarding newspapers – they do not come as a freebie. Whoever supplies the Telegraph raised the price significantly and the original plan was for BA to not order it at all. In the end it decided to retain an order for a smaller amount onboard and none for the lounges.

[MartynSinclair]

So who is paying for the endless supplies of the Daily Mail throughout T5?

[PegasusAir]

Thanks rf. I appreciate that they are not free, although I think a few actually are judging by their availability in hotels (Independent?) as this increases their circulation and thus their advertising charges. Everything has a cost, drinks, food etc but my point is that to cut back on such an obvious requirement is false economy and lowers the perception of the product whereas the trick I believe is to increase the perception but without too much cost. This is a too obvious a cut back – a few of us still remember how Pan Am slowly went under by cutting back both on service and network although I am not saying BA will follow this as it has the best O & D network in the world but it was a factor. Small things that annoy do count where there are alternatives.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ Discovery-Bay – 08/10/2014 16:59 GMT
@ canucklad – 11/10/2014 10:49 GMT
@ SimonS1 – 11/10/2014 13:42 GMT

When I was brought up, it was as part of the “Izal” generation and “branding” was something that the Americans obsessed about.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/this-britain/minor-british-institutions-izal-toilet-paper-1727294.html

The idea of having either the Mirror, the DailyGetsMuchWorse, never mind spelling errors, anywhere near my nether regions is a scatological affront. At least Viz does what it says on the cover.

Back to the OP, what really is a CW service deterioration is the sly removal of the Club Kitchen. Now if CW catering was of such a quality that this was an irrelevance, so be it…

[rferguson]

AnthonyDun I totally agree with you in regards to Club Kitchen. Even us the crew do not know the rationale behind it’s removal. One day it was there, the next it wasn’t. It is a total false economy for BA. Firstly they install ridiculously expensive industrial microwaves on the aircraft to heat the Club Kitchen ‘hot’ dishes and then remove the hot dishes within months – these costly and heavy microwaves becoming a white elephant. Likewise the refrigerators attached to the club kitchen – there is nothing now to put in them.

Either do something properly or don’t do it at all. Nothing looks worse than an empty space with the lights turned off.

[AnthonyDunn]

@ rferguson – 12/10/2014 10:42 GMT

The more you post, the greater the impression I obtain that BA operates like a classic Soviet-style “command economy” in which the vision that the chiefs have is seldom, if ever, either communicated down to the shop-floor and is seldom, if ever, related to the reality on the latter.

I can imagine that, on occasions, it must get to be positively surreal.

And I thought that it was this, in part, that Frank v.d Post was brought in to address… or is that wishful thinking on my part?

[esselle]

To Fly. To Save.

[rferguson]

Ok this is very much my personal opinion only and of course I need to tread carefully with what I say.

However this is my view of BA management – well my immediate management anyway. I have had more managers than I can count in my fifteen years at BA. In fifteen years I have had a face to face conversation with one of my managers once. I have never had an appraisal. Ever. I am BA main crew (legacy – post ’97). My manager earns significantly less than I do. Most of the CSD’s they manage earn double what they do. Like my colleagues on Mixed Fleet a management position at BA seems like a stepping stone to better things and a reputable company to put on your CV.

We do occasionally get managers that will some into more senior positions from companies that have forward thinking management skills. They come into the airline bursting with enthusiasm, new ways of working, great ideas. Then within six months, they are gone. They come up against the ‘BA wall’ where they realise they have absolutely zero ability to drive through any changes. BA does not like change. They get fed up and leave. The ones that last the longest seem to be the ‘yes’ men and women who walk around with this mentality that BA is just wonderful and we are winning all these awards etc etc etc.

** These are my personal opinions only***

[Chiantikid]

I have to concur with my colleague in BA. Spot on. It’s still run in large parts like its a State airline

[VKsNemesis]

On a semi-related note, why does BA make a big deal of its six A380s (judging by the flashy press releases on ‘BT’)? SQ has 19 (and has been flying them since 2007), EK has 53, even semi-broke QF has 12, LH also has 12, AF and KE both have 10.
Other carriers have been eating in to BA’s long haul market share for years with their capacity and service and it’s doubtful if BA will ever be able to compete with with SQ, EK, QF, LH, AF and KE ( as well as TG and MH who have the same number of A380s as BA) when it comes to long haul traffic (and service) on A380s.

[Author]

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