BA Doubles Down on Club Europe Breakfast Cuts: Apparently Heating Food is 'Challenging' Now

I wasn't going to cover this, what with coming back from our Christmas break, wondering if you would be interested, and just thinking this would all blow past like a fart in the wind. But no, it's taken a rather funny turn. And to my colleagues in my real job, I promise to not to say anything wildly out of touch, honest.

Let me rewind for you all...

Don't you even dare ask for this! - Photo courtesy of BA

On New Years Eve I stumbled across this post about British Airways cutting back its breakfast offering in Club Europe cabins for flights from London to Amsterdam, Belfast, Brussels, Paris, Dublin, Jersey, Manchester, and Newcastle. Breakfast on these routes is to be reduced to a "fruit plate, yoghurt, and a heated pastry" from a full hot breakfast.

Cue the rage and indignation!

My favourite line from that initial message to staff is "making it easier to deliver, giving you more time in the cabin with our customers". I am truly excited to see what the cabin crew will be mandated to do by BA in this extra time with their customers. Stand up comedy? Group therapy? Or perhaps stand in the galley and chat! We will wait and see.

At this point, I couldn’t muster up enthusiasm to get out of bed to care about this. Just another BA cut to add to the roaring bonfire of “customer enhancements”.

But it was pointed out very well, and I apologise to more earnest fliers who may remember the days, that BA used to serve 200 hot breakfasts when they used to operate the Boeing 757 on these same routes, back in a time when being in economy meant you were also treated decently.

BA has a history of own goals, yet backing down quicker than Keir Starmer when the publicity has gotten a bit too hot, so that is what I've been waiting to see, hence leaving this story alone.

But now they're doubling down.

Perhaps sensing blood, and a story, the broadcaster Andrew Pierce tweeted about the lack of service he received whilst flying BA back from Malta in economy.

Now I do have to agree that a cup of tea is not exactly much to ask for, but BA have made the determination that when you're having to compete with Ryanair who offer fares from around £10, that cost is king, so the public desire cheaper fares at whatever cost. But it's what came next that caused me to put pen to paper (or whatever the modern metaphor may be).

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Mr Pierce caught wind of BA's cut to the breakfast offering and proceeded to graciously share more of his thoughts, but it's not what he had to say that caught my attention, it was the doubling down from the member of BA customer services.

Apparently, "serving a full hot breakfast has become challenging"... Tell me why? The aircraft has stayed the same, it's the same A320 you've been using for the last 15+ years. The length of flight has not changed, Dublin and Belfast aren't exactly short routes at around 50-60 minutes in the air, if I can cook and serve a full English in that time, surely one could be heated up in the oven. There is a minimum staffing requirement so that hasn't changed, and there are no union matters that I am aware of... so how has it suddenly become challenging to serve the same breakfast that you've always done?

It's comments like this that really rile the public up with BA. People want to have a good relationship with the flag carrier, but people feel somewhat betrayed and let-down when they feel they have chosen the "premium" airline, and maybe you’re lucky enough in life to have chosen the "premium" cabin, only to be given the equivalent of a Boots Meal Deal because… nothings changed.

This next example just sums up how sad things can be.

This person has the highest status in the oneworld alliance (equivalent to BA Gold). With the BA flight from Singapore leaving around 8pm, they decided to prioritise their sleep and ignore the dinner served, understandable given the 6am arrival into Sydney. Now, either the bean counters have determined that 20% of breakfasts are not eaten, so why bother paying for them to be made and loaded, or they departed Singapore knowing that there had been a catering snafu.

I’m not saying that this person must get a guaranteed breakfast because of their status, but what I am saying is that they should have got a guaranteed breakfast because they were a paying customer on the flight! If you were hosting someone in your house overnight, you’d make sure you were able to serve them breakfast!

The low-cost carriers have plied their bare bones image, so the public know what to expect. Yet BA still tries to cling to the glory of yesteryear, and so do the public. If you go to the BA Media Library (I know how to spend a Friday night), all the imagery is of service, revelry, calm, and satisfaction. I know a PR bod isn’t going to approve an image of a depressed passenger staring ruefully into their complimentary plastic cup of water, but I think some work could be done to align expectation and reality.

So now we sit here and wait for the inevitable "Due to extensive customer feedback..."

Let me know what you think, do you even care?

Sam

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