I've not experienced BA longhaul (although I will be going LHR-ORD//TPA-LGW in a few weeks, both 777), but have plenty of shorthaul flights with them under my belt. The vast majority of them have been out of LHR on the airbus fleet, which have always been immaculate, as have the EMBs on the LCY routes, I cannot say the same for their LGW Boeing fleet at all.
I was on a particularly scabby 737 a few years back from LGW-PRG. My arm rest was duct taped down, to prevent the rubber coming away from the metal bit and the row behind us was closed off, all 3 seats were folded down and had "not in use" covers on them. The tannoy was very quiet and muffled and the cabin fittings generally looked run down and one panel next to us was coming lose!
Our 757 back from BUD was in much better nick. I last used a BA 737 a few months ago EDI-LGW and it was not in a much better state than the one I used in 2006. In fact it was just the same. Worn out seats, lose window blinds, torn carpets. Looked like they hadn't been taken care of inside at all. Are BA replacing their LGW 737s with Airbuses any time soon?
I can't say BA are alone in this though. KLM have some pretty tired looking 777s that I have used recently. On a recent flight from AMS-JNB my tv screen broke 2 hours outside of JNB and the headphone socket on the (empty) seat next to me didn't work right! No cabin crew around to report this to, doubt they could have done a lot in mid-flight anyway. They were also missing the crown from the "KLM" lettering on the bulkhead wall at the front of the rear economy section. The KL Fokkers have seen better days, but their EMBs on the cityhopper routes are fantastic.
Anyone know if the 777s used LHR-ORD are generally in good condition or do they stick older fleet on that route? I chose the late morning flight to avoid the AA codeshares. I wasn't aware at the time, but a 747 is being used on one of the afternoon flights, so I hope I made a good choice!
