Originally Posted by
BonnieLass
I have to admit that I absolutely hate BA and avoid flying with them as much as I possibly can.
In 2012 I had no alternative but to fly BA from the south of France to MAN via LGW.
The first flight was aboard a very pleasant Embraer, lovely crew...no issues at all. I actually thought that maybe BA had finally improved. That was until I connected with the BA flight from LGW to MAN.
Sitting there at the gate was a B737 that looked like it had been dragged kicking and screaming out of retirement. The outside of the aircraft was tatty...lots of that special sticky tape (nose, around the door, all over the wings etc), some hanging by a thread. Boarded and the carpet had a hefty dose of gaffer tape, the seats likewise. Found my seat...a window as always...but looking out of the window was going to be an issue, tween the layers of window hung quite a lot of insulation material (2 or 3 windows infront and behind mine also had insulation hanging within them). Eventually we moved off the gate, started the engines (engine noise plus other unrecogniseable noises comparitive to a sawmill at full chat). Off we trundled to the runway, every pothole causing the entire interior to bang, creak and rattle doing the perfect impersonation of an overloaded milk float. Take off roll and the overheads were bouncing and various bangs and crashes from under the seat, a gradual struggle into the air...and creaking and banging all the way to MAN where we arrived with a thump or three and most of the pax started clapping.
I have no idea what the reg was on that B737...it did have a distinguishing mark though, a black circle around the nose. It was the BA that I remembered why I avoided the airline. Not a nervous pax by any means but that old crate seemed ready for the knackers yard.
On the other hand, on our last flight with BA, ATH to LHR, we had an aircraft switch to a 787 (iirc) from a bus, and being in club we had the full lie flat seating experience. Probably the first and only time that I will sleep on a s/h flight !
And then there was the time we flew BA from ALC to LGW, and then LGW to TPA the next day. We had been chatting to a crew member on the first leg - and, surprise, she was on the second leg as well (mixed fleet). She remembered us, and a surprising number of bottles of champagne reached our seat ! It's little things like that which make a difference in one's perception of an airline.