Hey Jerry,
I wouldn't say that not having an In-Flight Chef means that BA does not have a 'professional outlook' with regard to it's service for F pax.
Some airlines, including bmi and Gulf Air have inflight chefs, however many other top airlines do not have them. To be honest, having been involved in the product development for bmi longhaul, while all the in-flight chefs at bmi had previous high-end restaurant or hotel chef experience, the meal product delivered on board could be delivered pretty equally by trained F/A's. You cannot (under CAA regulations - and quite rightly so!) for safety reasons have the same kind of cooking appliances in an aircraft galley as a normal kitchen, so other than the presentation of the food, you're limited to an oven or a skillet on board.
BA has special training for F class (including working galley), not everyone is F trained but for those who are, they are able to deliver a top quality in flight dining service, and I don't see how an on board chef would make much of an enhancement to that.
Finally, as you point out, in-flight dining is but just one component of the overall F product. Unlike bmi's 'The Business' product, BA has 6'6" flat sleeper bed compartments in F and flat beds in Club which are a hit with many pax. Different airlines invest in different products that they feel suit their customer base. Also, don't forget that the trend on many overnight flights is for pax to dine prior to boarding in the First and Executive lounges at the airport.
Hey Calle Belle,
You beat me to the punch line (and summed up what I was trying to say in 2 lines instead of 20, LOL)
