I have just returned home after two short-haul J-class European flights this morning with British Airways. The first, from a German city to LHR, was a public relations disaster for BA with sour-faced, unhelpful and (in one cabin attendant's case) downright rude service. If that's EF's standard of service these days then I was appalled.
The second - from LGW to JER - was a dream by comparison. The front cabin was packed, but the crew made every passenger feel welcome. How they manage a full meal service in 35 minutes astonishes me every time.
Meanwhile AtlasDrawer, posting in "the other place" reports on a certain conversation:
I recently did a trip with a purser on EF, who told me that a BASSA rep on EF had told her that a Christmas strike was being planned and 'We know we have lost, this strike is just to f@@k the company up' - Their exact words.
The moral of my tale: that the BASSA hardliners employed on BA's European Fleet are still convinced that they run the airline, and that they still believe that fare paying passengers are an intrusion in their working lives.
Compare and contrast that pernicious mindset with the positive, can do, attitude of the "Gatwick Gang".