Ok in that case it’s a fair comment. It came across in a different way. IAG are so bias to their Spanish ops it doesn’t surprise me that standards at BA are continuing to slide.

Well I came North with BA Monday night from Nairobi, and would make the following comments on the experience on that route and aircraft which was a 3 year old A350. I do quite a bit of time in them with LH and prefer them to 787.

BA use Kenya Airways Pride lounge, which has good views, but I would have to say I would prefer the Turkish lounge used by EK, but there is little in it though view probably better from Kenyan lounge, though as we were there late night little to see but Giraffe graphics on glass looked good and funny with a 787 behind them.

In bound flight was running late by circa 20min which is nothing to do with closed airspace in Sudan , Libya but late departure from LHR. Interestingly our North Bound route was out over Uganda, Congo, Central African Republic, Niger , Chad , Algeria to the Mediterranean. Never been that way before, could be winds, or issues with airspace over Egypt but no comment either way from FD so not sure why.

Boarding a little chaotic as airside lounge space available for around 230 not a A350 so a little tight. Boarded late as a result but not unduly so for African airport.

Business class, so drink before push, and it’s not a long taxi at Nairobi as generally you take off East facing, but this time sharp turn South then heading West as route above. Service was prompt with take off drinks served (order requested and placed pre take off). Food for myself was Lobsters/ Beef/ Cheese. Lobster ok Beef a bit of a miss and Cheese ok, though Blue a little strong for some at height given amount back in galley later. Wines were mostly New World, and pre Dinner drinks pretty standard offer. I would say mixers given BA patriotic drive,would be better with Fevertree, and maybe an offer of low Sugar rather than just Schweppes full fat, after all Jet 2 do !

The inflight entertainment offer wise ok, but music choice appeared to be more mixed compilations rather than individual albums, and not as good a# EK / SQ in that regards, but again arguably first world issue.

Slightly late into LHR but everything typical LHR morning rush ie misplaced Mrs Mac on hop between terminals but caught up in A ! Lounge was I would say, as she described ie very tired with poor clearing of tables, and toilet with cracked sink and well worn tarnished taps and general ironmongery. No champagne but offered Prosecco, but at least on the bar. Many will say first world problems or observation’s, but if you do this a lot, it’s the stuff you notice especially, if involved in construction or facilities management.

Flight up to Manchester pushed on time, and was on newish A320 and inflight Pork Loin was good and checked bag arrived with us.

As for crews Mrs Mac said down bound crew we’re slightly better, but with a Redeye for both passengers and crew it is never going to be their finest hour and the crew I interacted with were fine. They did have an issue when they had to de- plane a young women on the immediate opposite side of the A/C in Business Class post boarding. She was quite vocal against some CC from my observation which is sad.

So overall a bit mixed, and given connection issues from North I could not highly recommend LHR or BA at the moment when flying due partly to this if outside SE. If based in SE UK then LHR is your local airport and some issues go away but have to say it would stress a better experiment SQ/ EK.

I hope the above comes across fairly with not a mixed agenda, but from a observation point of view

Cheers
Mr Mac

So looks like:
BKK leisure route from LGW 3/wk 772
KUL from LHR daily 789
New Seats in A320/1 Neos, J mid table back!
Free iMessage/WhatsApp for Exec Clubs pax
New F seat for A380
… perhaps some more to be announced

BA blouses
 

Looks like they’re not happy with the new blouse for females. No white or frilly bras to be worn in case the customer gets an eyeful

. https://www.paddleyourownkanoo.com/2...ting-the-mark/

What a load of bollocks! All of the feed back during the trial was completely ignored. It didn't matter a damn what was said, the working group either didn't care or didn't have the power to over rule the initial design.
​​​​​​​But I'm sure Mr Boateng and his company got paid very well and won't get any blame. 🤬

have they ever been happy with any uniform? even goes back to the Caribbean BOAC paper dressed

Probably not qualified to comment on fashion but just enjoyed two excellent long haul flights with BA. both my wife and I commented on the new blouses some looked really smart and others like they had been w, washed with a pair of black socks and looked rather grey!
Guess it is not what you wear so much as the way you wear it.

Common issues with the uniform:

Female cabin crew blouse is see-through, and the fabric catches and pulls on velcro and hair. Melts easily when ironed and seems to remove makeup. No modesty button so frequently pops open for those of larger bust.
Collar on the dress is high and stiff and has caused rashes on some crew.
Jumpsuit impractical for use on board, reports of it coming apart at the seams.

Male cabin crew shirt collar is wide and clip on tie knot is small so the fake tie knot keeps slipping out from under the collar. Collars are bobbling and shirt cuffs are fraying.
Cabin crew ties prone to fraying.
Men's slim fit trousers with side adjusters instead of belt won't stay up.
Black finish on belt peeling.

Winter scarf constantly shedding purple fluff.

Male pilot shirts have "hidden" pockets which are just a disaster.
Buttons on flight crew jackets break easily.

On a positive note the fabrics in the new uniform (bar the cabin crew blouse) are much more breathable than the old one and the slight stretch in the fabric aids wearability and comfort.

What a fantastic post.

I enjoyed reading all of it and after suffering from uniform defects in the past I can totally relate to many of the points you have mentioned, in particular the bobbling of the shirt collars as well as the tie clip.

At the end of the day changes aren't always necessary, a few adjustments maybe but what you have described sounds awful.

One of the symptoms of modern British mgmt is to ignore feedback from staff. I could quote examples from many different fields where they have feedback sessions, then do what they wanted. When the predicted problems emerge, they assure that they are taking these concerns seriously.

Unfortunately, the govt is being run by modern British managers.

You are correct. Or even more so, to sneer at staff feedback. You can even see examples in the thread above from the "well, they always complain anyway ..." school of taking notice. Alex Cruz when at BA was a past master of it. Junior acolytes have a part to play, in massaging staff response summaries to make it look more positive than reality, especially for something they feel the Big Boss is behind. In one case I was involved in, honest staff responses about a corporate campaign about showing respect to fellow colleagues were poo-poo'd by some higher management in the board meeting in a manner which was the direct opposite of what the campaign was meant to achieve.

So, both United and BA will need to decide this year to replace their old 777-200s

BA has yet to cover the capacity problem the retirement of the 747s caused because of the delay of the 777-9 18+24 options from 20204 to 2026, the airplane which is meant to fill the vpppcapaciry void if the 747

BBhas entered negotiations with Airbus and Boeing with the candidates being A350-1000 and B787-10. But with Heathrow scrapping the 3rd runway I wonder if it might order more 777-9 instead

The issue is whoever orders first (United or BA) the other airline will receive massive discounts. If United goes with the A350 Boeing will do everything to win over BA.

What's your take on all of this ? And predictions.

Again BA needs to retire 43 B777-200 by 2030 and United 74

BA do not necessarily have to decide this year.. They already have plenty of options on long haul aircraft (787-10, A350 and 779) that they just need to firm up. Planned deliveries of the 787-10 this year will take the long haul fleet back to the pre-Covid number. Not all the 777s need to be gone by 2030 either.

Does that include the Gatwick BA fleet? Wondering if BA would put new aircraft into Gatwick or bring across older ones from Heathrow?

I expect initially some 'newer' 777s from Heathrow will move over but will have to be eventually replaced. Most of the long haul routes from Gatwick are very profitable and need
fairly highly capacity aircraft in a 3 class configuration. The current 777s have a capacity of 332.

You don't know that "most of them are very profitable". None of us do, if they were "very profiitable", they'd be getting Club Suite and not staggering to end of life with 8 abreast, 1/2 of 'em rearward facing. They told us LGW short haul was profitable, and then when COVID came, that was retracted!
BA haven't put new long haul metal into LGW since the hub experiment in the mate 90s, it's always going to be hand me downs unless a new CEO decides he/she has a stellar business case for CAPEX.

Outwith the obvious, I don’t recall seeing a formal retraction regarding specific profitability at LGW?

These flights are profitable. As for the the club suites the current club world configuration works well for the family groups on the routes from Gatwick.

Speaking of expansion outside LHR, I'm hearing more internal rumours of BA City flyer A320s being based and operated out of UK regions.

If such rumours should ever come it fruition it will more likely be BA Euroflyer, who already operate the A320.