BA’S FLYING THE FLAG FOR SHODDY SERVICE
BA or easyJet? It’s the dilemma for many of us when planning a round-trip short-haul flight out of London.
EasyJet will always win on price, but the national flag carrier offers benefits not available on budget airlines, such as a free meal . . . or it did until recently.
A few weeks ago, BA started charging for food on European flights, and it has not been going well. I hadn’t realised this until I got on my Gibraltar-bound plane a week ago — and regretted not bringing a packed lunch.
I sat in the middle of the aircraft — row 16 — on a flight due to leave Heathrow at 12.35pm. It was not until almost three hours later (at 4.23pm Gibraltar time) that the two stewards operating what they called ‘our new cabin service’ asked me what I’d like for lunch. It was a paltry choice. By then we were well past Madrid and would soon be descending.
So some of my fellow passengers would not even have been able to obtain a glass of water — for which a payment was also required.
And no cash was allowed — apparently, that is too much of an inconvenience for BA.
On the return flight to Gatwick, I went by easyJet. That flight left Gibraltar at 12.25pm — and I was served my £6.50 meal of main course, snack and drink by 12.40pm. Admittedly, I was in the front row, so served first — but I could see the whole thing was being operated much more rapidly than on the BA flight, even though eEasyJet was flexible enough to take cash.
For those interested in value as well as service, my easyJet fare (including the premium for a front row seat and priority boarding) was £41.89. The BA flight cost £110.70. Oh, and BA charges for baggage in the hold, just like budget airlines. I chose BA for the outgoing flight because the easyJet equivalent left at the crack of dawn.
But if I were a holidaymaker anxious to have more time in Gibraltar’s sunshine, an earlier start would actually be an advantage.
BA is no longer the Government’s responsibility — it was successfully privatised 30 years ago — but it still represents our country in the eyes of countless foreign travellers.
So when it offers worse performance than a budget airline, for almost three times the price, it amounts to a national embarrassment.