British Airways is rolling out a new cleaning protocol for short haul flights, and passengers probably aren’t going to like it (thanks to reader Thomas for flagging this).
Continue reading: British Airways Reducing Aircraft Cleaning On Short Haul Flights
Share your questions, experiences, and thoughts below.
I'm actually wondering about the part that "what won’t be done anymore:"
Have items such as below even been done consistently before?
Tray tables won’t be checked or wiped
Seats won’t be wiped
Now my short haul experience in not UK flights but to Schengen area. So that might be the case.
Seems pretty reflective of Britain in 2023. Keep raising prices and reducing services while at the same time claiming to be "posh" or "luxury".
So what about aircraft turns happening outside those hours? Will they not be cleaned at all or get the normal full/non-“express” service?
We've heard this isn't happening anymore. Is this true? Did you actually ask BA about it?
Both America and the UK are on a "value spiral" - prices increasing, services decreasing.
Ben, what you are describing seems to me like an IMPROVEMENT. I want to smoke the same stuff as whoever wrote these instructions thinking it was a downgrade.
Let's be honest: This is all that is done anyways. AA is THE WORST. Sometimes beginning boarding as the last passengers are still walking off. NO WAY a dang thing was cleaned. Even during the pandemic.
Unsurprising! Even during COVID I myself boarded an AA 777 between south america to DFW that was not cleaned between trips. Boarding started right when passengers began deplaning and as soon as the last incoming passenger deplaned, the first outgoing passenger entered the cabin (I was among the first passengers in line). All surfaces were filthy as heck, and this was back in the day of "electrostatic spraying" and all the mostly-fake "enhanced" cleaning protocols that airlines were advertising just to keep people flying. So, in this case, I see that BA is just announcing that their planes are going to be filthier (which might have already been true before the announcement) and, as usual, they don't miss the chance to twist reality by giving their lower standard a shiny new dumb name.
"We want people to come off a British Airways flight and talk about it as if it’s something different." says BA spokesthingy.
Well yes, many will, but it won't be the least bit flattering.
The only upside to this is reducing turnaround times and attempting to improve on-time reliability. Otherwise, it falls into the BA value proposition of over-promising and under-delivering.
My last three BA itineraries have been really poor - significant delays on departure and arrival, dirty planes, and missing meals and service items in Club Europe on sectors >4 hours. Seeing this occur once would be bad enough, but the CE cabin being significantly short-catered on meals as well as missing ice and glassware on three of my six sectors shows how operationally weak they have become on soft service items as well as the hard product and basics of reliability.
Add to that their abysmal IT capabilities and insane Customer Service wait / response times, and I'd argue they've seldom been this bad in the last 20 years.
TBH for short haul flights I'm not that fussed. I'd prefer they got the domestic connection frequency back to normal and fixed their useless app and website that are near permanently broken!
Interesting that it is about the flight times and not about the duration. I thought something like this should be more about the duration. May be more people will consider other carriers including the so-called cheaper carriers that clean their aircrafts!
As we have always said - BA - Be Aware
Remember Cruz tried something similar (even less cleaning) on a Dublin- LHR flight. Was a very very short attempt to save money.
Really wish these corporations were not run by bean counters.
Short haul inbound BA flights to LGW are now BA Euroflyer operated and the lucky cabin crew are tasked with cleaning the aircraft at the distant end. So, say for a Marrakech flight, 4/5 hours into Marrakech, an hours cleaning, then 4/5 hrs back to LGW. Some shift sans break!
As of this point, BA has already failed to clean its planes even on long haul flights. Why doesn't BA just say that they will not clean their planes anymore? What I cannot accept is that they are not mopping the galley and bathroom floors! British Airways continues to race to the bottom!
Somehow I expected this from British Airways. Speaking of which, Bad Airline has many planes that are turning into a yellowish white and could definitely use a fresh new coat of paint. Particularly certain A320 family aircraft and 777-200ERs.
This and those awful uncomfortable slimline seats they now have on short-haul planes that are the same as WizzAir and easyJet definitely point to a low-cost experience. The worlds tiniest snack pack and a bottle of water can't change that.
BA are, like most big companies, indulging in skimpflation and shrinkflation. All the major brands are bloody awful. McDonald’s, Dominos, Heinz Beans, Ginsters and even Campbells Soup have had ingredients removed and content size reduced. All the brands I’ve mentioned above taste terrible now. There is no big brand I trust now!