I have been waiting for a chance to commit this little lot to print.
I have often flown BA Business Class, have always found them excellent and have always been able to get some sleep on their flights too. I think that all BA long haul have sleeper seats or bedlets in BC? Google up Flight Guru for seat plans of the aircraft on the service.
Last month I nipped down to JHB for a fortnight and, departing from Munich, as I was, opted to fly SAA. A night flight down and a day flight back. I like day flights. The aircraft was an Airbus 340 and I flew both ways in peasant class.
Having said that, I had four seats each way. As far as I could determine, the seats on the A340 in BC were hardly any better than those in Economy. I distinctly reflected to myself that the extra cost would not be justified by any improvement in seating. Certainly that particular aircaft was old or at least well used and had that unpleasant dead sardine smell that old aircraft have after too much body stink absorbtion.
Nothing wrong with the flight crew on either sector.
The cabin crew however were of a different shade altogether. I suspect that in BC you would find the cream of the cabin services staff. Such was not the case in Economy.
Bear in mind that on both sectors my flights were about a quarter full, so the cabin crew hardly had to work. On the southbound flight we were offered one drink service, one quick meal blat, no refills for those who were drinking, a quick cup of coffee and that was it. I don't watch movies on aeroplanes but there was only the old screen in the aisle system and I think there was something wrong with the showings on the way down. There certainly was on the way back.
Sometime toward dawn on the way down I decided that a cup of coffee would be a nice idea and went aft to the galley. There were no cabin attendants around at all. Eventually, one CA chap, who had been sleeping when I walked past him, covered in blankets so I had not recognised him as crew, came along and rather grudingly produced a cup of coffee. No real problems so far except that it was obvious, and confirmed by the chap on asking, that all the cabin crew were off somewhere in their hidey hole, sleeping, or whatever. I hung around the aft section for a while, stretching and so on and slowly, one by one, cabin attendants appeared from somewhere, all wearing cute sleeper suits which they proceeded to change out of into their uniforms. They were completely indistinguishable from passengers in their romp suits. I absolutely admit that it would be highly unlikely, but had we had an in flight emergency in the dark hours, no one would really have a clue as to who were cabin crew and who were dressed up BC passengers throwing their weight around.
On the way back, the day flight, pretty much the same thing happened. Short sharp service, everybody push off. I did query this with one of the cabin attendants. I made the point that surely not all the CAs needed disappearing rest periods on a one sector day for a ten hour flight, call it fourteen hours duty. I was assured that they did, and, although I may have got it wrong, was informed that on the Washington flights, they had to have five hours in flight rest. That's all fine and that is SAA's business and also that of the SA CAA. It is not for me particularily to criticise the duty limitations of an airline or those imposed by the nation's CAA. However, I do take exception to the fact that the airline's rules seem to permit no apparent visible cabin crew presence on a night flight. I also think that cabin crew on a flight should remain in uniform, thus allowing themselves to be recognised as such.
In fairness, I never used the Call Button and I did not see anyone else do so either.
So if your wife wants to fly on SAA, drink her duty free, smoke in the toilet and basically get up to any mischief that might take her fancy, then I expect she would get away with it, such was the total boredom manifested by the non appearing, androgynously clad cabin crew.
Munich is convenient for me so I will go with them again but my goodness, it was a really pathetic show. A real display of non professionalism. I will say though, that in the old days when there was quality control in recruitment rather than political control, SAA was absolutely fabulous in any class and their First Class was totally unbeatable.
I would advise you not to show this post to your lady love, assuming that's your wife of course, if you wish to save £1,000.
Toodle Pip.....
