[Anonymous]

[JulianCucumberpatch]

Experienced cabin crew back on these routes for the summer schedule.

[Bucksnet]

Julian, I presume you mean they are not mixed fleet?

I’m sure VK will have something to say on this.

[HonestCrew]

Coca Cola had a hell of lot to say about it. Have you ever heard of a customer telling an airline if they don’t change the crew back to how it was they will pull their custom? Hence we have the joy of Atlanta and it’s quirky airport back on our rosters. Nice hotel though.

[Dontjustbookit]

Julian,

The mixed fleet crew are not nesecarily inexperienced as many have spent years with other carriers with a large percentage transferred over from the temporary contracts that were given out a few years prior.
They are albit a little slow at times very good at their jobs and do not offer any less a great product and service than the legacy crews.

Dontjustbookit

[DisgustedofSwieqi]

Julian

To this weary traveller, ‘product enhancement’ usually means things just got worse, when implemented by BA 😉

[Hippocampus]

The claim Coca Cola demanded ATL be transferred back to WW is a lie.

What the OP failed to mention is that LAX is being transferred to Mixed Fleet. This is in addition to Boston and Chicago, two other top transatlantic routes.

Shame on those with their barely concealed agendas that are smearing Mixed Fleet.

[batraveller2]

Oh dear, and i use LAX quite a bit. Do you know when the changeover happens? Thanks

[DoorsToManual]

Not even BA would be STUPID enough to use the EasyJet rejects (Mixed Fleet Crew) on the LA route. The celebrities flying in FIRST won’t know what’s hit them! It’s just not the BA it used to be. In FIRST on a recent trip the Cabin Crew member (Mixed Fleet) didn’t know how to lay the table without the aid of a picture from a manual…that she brought with her to my seat. That’s right I paid £6000 for that service!

[Bucksnet]

You would have thought that they would keep the picture stuck to the wall in the galley, and not brought it into the cabin.

I don’t think BA should have mixed fleet crew in first.

[HonestCrew]

The Coca Cola thing is most definitely not a lie.

It is not a case of smearing Mixed Fleet crew members. The problem is that what looks good on paper just is not practical in real life.
It was not fair on those crew to send flights out with such little experience and more importantly not right to use the the customers on the more ‘leisure’ routes as crash test dummies to ‘see how MF get on’.
Infrequent BA flyers make up most of the customers on the original MF routes and they don’t know exactly what service to expect , time taken to do it, etc, so were seen as ideal candidates to be more accepting of a crew with lesser knowledge of the business and the job itself.
… and as for the feedback we receive from our safety & medical trainers, honestly, it goes from laughable to downright shocking.

I am staunchly proud of representing my country and my nationality when I work and to see BA accepting crew as young as 18, straight from school with no customer / life experience and expecting them to offer a high level of service which customers expect is so naive and highlights how senior management really lost touch.

Let’s get these new crew in with the experienced ones, show them the ropes, give them tips, even buddy up in a sort on ‘mentor’ way and use their enthusiasm to make the airline better and NOT work them into the ground for two years with little reward just to save a few quid.

[RichHI1]

Honest Crew, slightly tangential I know but I wondered, as Cabin Crew are primarily there for safety not to act as waiters, what sort of medical and emergency qualifications do BA crew have? Whether formal paramedic or fire qualification through operating ressuscitation equipment to CPR, delivering babies, coping with choking or anaphylaxis? At various times I have seen crews on various airlines perform amazing things when seconds count.

[Hippocampus]

The line that Mixed Fleet crews are all teenagers out of school simply isn’t true though.

Some of the more recent recruits are new to aviation. But many have had experience from within the existing BA fleets and have joined BA from other airlines (Qatar, Virgin bmi) etc.

The fleet has undoubtedly had its teething problems (just as Gatwick Single Fleet did and oh how some LHR crews sneered at the them at the time) and there are still issues to resolve (I don’t think anyone would disagree they shouldn’t have taken on First class so early) but there has been a lot of very positive feedback as well with many reports of exceptionally good service in all cabins (First included) and certainly not “charter style”.

I’m afraid that those who are hoping Mixed Fleet will go away are going to be disappointed (and the real reason why many crew want crew integrated is to consolidate the EF/WW powerbase at LHR). And to see some BA cabin crew brand Mixed Fleet crews with outright smears as some have previously done on this forum makes them a disgrace to the industry.

[FlyingChinaman]

I know for sure that Cathay and Singaporeair will NEVER put any CC in their front cabins unless they have had over 7-10 years of service.experience.

Part of my business is in the service industry and I know it is risky to have a mixed crew as the standards can not be assured.

[RichHI1]

Hippocampus am I correct in thinking you are a spokesperson for BA? I am not concerned with your identity merely the reasons for your positions on things realting to this carrrier?

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