The World’s Favourite Airline?

So as the “season to be jolly” rapidly approaches, it seems that the festive cheer has bypassed BA cabin crew who yet again are threatening strike action. This ongoing saga that repeats itself year after year, and usually reaches a climax during school summer and Christmas holidays is set for another episode we are warned!

Well, having recently returned from the States on a BA flight I was shocked at the level of service and quality of in-flight meals on what was once dubbed “The World’s favourite airline” I find it unbelievable that they feel they have just cause to strike when their services are so below par.

Our journey to the States stated on what was so far to be the windiest night of the year, taking a very slow, and at times, dangerous journey down the M62 to Manchester airport. We had arranged airport parking and to be honest it couldn’t have been any easier or convenient, despite the weather were met by a driver who greeted us with a smile and helped us with our luggage ....things were getting better so I thought. We checked in with plenty of time to spare despite our connecting flight from Heathrow to LAX giving us only 1hr grace, we figured that the 3hr check-in rule would still apply. Half an hour before our flight was due to depart it had still not been announced, therefore we went to the BA customer services desk who pointed to the queue of people waiting to board – nice for them to announce it!

Upon boarding the flight attendant announced that due to adverse weather conditions we were going to be delayed by 20mins, bear in mind we had a 1hr window to catch our connecting flight this was getting close to the wire! I told the stewardess of our predicament and she said we should have been told by BA that an hour was not enough time to connect another flight – great! And so it was we missed our flight and had to catch another 4hs later. No big deal I hear you say when you have terminal 5 to browse round, well a big deal to us when you only have 4 nights in LA and one has now been wasted.

Our flight to LAX was mediocre to say the very least, the in-flight meal was palatable and the choice entertainment was fair with Toy Story 3 being the highlight, I did expect a little bit more choice to be honest . To be fair to BA at this point their policy on hand luggage is very generous, so long as it fits into the hand luggage gauge and you can carry it unaided, there are no weight restrictions, but that is the only real check in the box, but maybe my flight last year with Virgin had spoiled me too much?

Anyway, after a fun-filled but expensive holiday in the Stateside taking in the sights and sounds of L.A and Las Vegas we were homeward bound again with BA, and from the onset it was apparent that that BA were not going to dazzle us with their customer service skills. The flight attendant who greeted us looked like she had been on a non-stop flight to Sydney and then the captain announced that unfortunately a few customers were going to have to be without their TV screens working as technicians hadn’t been able to rectify the problem in time. I’m glad to say were weren’t one of these however the in-flight entertainment choice had not changed therefore there was nothing really to watch that I hadn’t seen already and my headphones needed changing twice before I got a pair that worked.

Our meal came and having sampled some wonderful cuisine in the US I assumed that the quality would somehow make its way onto the plane as BA would have sourced from good U.S caterers...WRONG!  I use the word “salad” very loosely when I describe a few pieces of iceberg lettuce, 2 cherry tomatoes and 2 balls of tasteless cheese, followed by mash and gristle and dessert being an over coloured, and over sweetened piece of cheesecake. For all the boasting BA do in their in-flight magazine about celebrity chef’s whom they have collaborated with, I think Anthony Worrall-Thompson  et al would be withdrawing their images from the brochure if they saw what was being served up in their name, this was cuisine I would expect on Easy-Jet not BA.

Touch-down finally at Heathrow and whilst we were on time our captain announced that  air traffic control were not happy with how we were parked, therefore we were going to have to reposition. Again, we had a 1hr window to catch our connecting flight so we resigned ourselves to the fact that yet again we were going miss our flight, and we did. We were re-scheduled onto another flight 2hrs later which wasn’t too bad but I was a little dismayed that I had to ask for a refreshments voucher rather than being offered one for the inconvenience. I then contacted Looking4Parking to inform them that we had been rescheduled as I had arranged a meet and greet, no problem was the response, but the way our journey had gone I was keeping an open mind.

Arrived at Manchester airport and true to their word our meet and greet went like clockwork, no problem whatsoever. Whilst we had a wonderful holiday I can honestly say that I think BA staff has a real cheek threatening strike action, unless they raise their standards in all areas I honestly think they are paid more than they deserve.  British Airways - The World’s favourite airline? I very much doubt, but our greeter Malcolm and the people at Looking4Parking (the cheap airport parking website) were warm, efficient and good value for money.