British Airways Slashes Catering, Tells Flight Attendants To Stop Saying “Sorry”

British Airways is telling its flight attendants to stop saying “sorry” for catering cuts as it attempts to slash catering onboard even as its competitors improve meals onboard.

As British Airways Cuts Premium Cabin Catering, It Tells Its Flight Attendants Not To Say Sorry…

In systemwide flight attendant training at its Global Learning Academy near its London Heathrow headquarters, British Airways is showing flight attendants how little the catering budget actually goes and telling them to stop saying “sorry” for it.

As reported by PYOK, British Airways flight attendants have been told to say they will pass on feedback to management rather than apologize if a customer complains onboard, particularly about the catering.

Flight attendants were also shown how little BA has to work with in trying to maximize its £5 per passenger meal budget in economy class…in a mock exercise, flight attendants were given a list of food items and their prices and then asked to best assemble a meal while not exceeding the budget.

The context of this training is recent cutbacks to onboard catering in business (Club World) and first class, which include:

Brunch service for flights that depart between 8:30 am and 11:29 am (breakfast dish[es] replace lunch more lunch items)
Reduced menu on longhaul flights that depart after 9:00 pm (Asia flights exempted) with no appetizers, no dessert choice, and main courses reduced to paninis, soup, and salads

I held off on writing about the catering cutbacks because I figured they would be reversed quickly…apparently British Airways is scrambling to reverse these cuts, even as it preaches the wisdom of austerity to flight attendants.

The airline business is indeed cutthroat and even in the best of times, margins seem thin. But British Airways charges a substantial premium over its budget competitors and yet offers a budget product onboard.

The cutbacks in business and first class are just silly. Having a brunch option on a flight that departs at 11:00 am is not a bad thing: but cutting lunch choices is foolishness when most will have already eaten breakfast. Offering only lighter meals on late-night flights makes sense for some passengers: but passengers who may not have had a chance to eat should not be denied an appetizer, salad, or heartier entree.

I truly do not understand what British Airways is thinking right now…as Qatar Airways adds caviar and even United Airlines improves catering onboard, what is BA thinking by cutting back choice at this point? In any case, it is not the way to win business or win loyalty from passengers and employees.

image: British Airways