I’m not hugely bothered by the change as such, though I’m consistently amazed by the areas that British Airways focuses on, while touting how it wants to be premium (thanks to PYOK for flagging this).
In this post:
British Airways Club Europe loses headrest covers
Club Europe is the name of British Airways’ regional business class product. As is standard in Europe, this simply consists of economy seats with blocked middle seats, and improved food, drinks, and service.
There’s also a curtain between business class and economy, and those in business class have received a headrest cover on their seat, to sort of visually differentiate the cabin from economy. Well, that will be no more.
As of tomorrow, May 6, 2026, British Airways will no longer place headrest covers on Club Europe seats. This change is being made to “ensure operational resilience, improve punctuality and align with our wider sustainability commitment.”
So yeah, basically the goal is to cut cleaning costs between flights, since presumably those headrest covers are sometimes replaced. Furthermore, since the size of the cabins can differ between flights, it also simplifies the process of adjusting the cabins.
My take on British Airways’ headrest cover change
As such, I’m not terribly offended by this change on the part of British Airways. For example, Air France doesn’t have headrest covers in either cabin on its A220s, which represent the carrier’s latest passenger experience.
Meanwhile Lufthansa has headrest covers in all cabins, with the catch being that short haul seats don’t actually have adjustable headrests, unlike on Air France and British Airways (and that can make a big difference in terms of comfort).
Instead, what stands out to me more is just the general trend of British Airways pushing its luck in finding every last opportunity possible to cut costs. In isolation I wouldn’t think much of it, but the small but negative changes are constant, ranging from trying to cut water bottles in economy, to extending the hours of breakfast and brunch to cut down on catering costs. All the while, British Airways has told employees to stop apologizing to customers.
Bottom line
As of May 6, 2026, British Airways is eliminating headrest covers in its Club Europe business class. Visually, this was one of the few things that differentiated business class from economy. I don’t consider this to be a huge deal, I just find it sad how British Airways’ inflight service changes seem to consistently be little ways to chip away at the experience, rather than ways to improve it.
What do you make of these British Airways headrest cover changes?
I'm gonna rant, again: Club Europe is not 'business' class... if it's regular economy in the front of the plane even with extra legroom, 3-3 configuration, blocked-middle, maybe a meal, that's 'economy plus' at best. 2-2 recliners should be called 'premium economy' (yes, we call them domestic 'First' in US, which is wrong, too.) If it's lie-flat, it can be called 'Business' class. If there's a suite with a door, it depends... I'd call it...
I'm gonna rant, again: Club Europe is not 'business' class... if it's regular economy in the front of the plane even with extra legroom, 3-3 configuration, blocked-middle, maybe a meal, that's 'economy plus' at best. 2-2 recliners should be called 'premium economy' (yes, we call them domestic 'First' in US, which is wrong, too.) If it's lie-flat, it can be called 'Business' class. If there's a suite with a door, it depends... I'd call it international 'First' if there's also a 'Business' class on-board. Let's form a 'United Nations of Airlines' and enforce these new 'designations'.
Makes me glad I didn't waste the extra Atmos points for my BA regional flight, not much point in paying extra for euro-biz if it isn't included w/ a long-haul ticket.
There is much stronger support in this region to cut landfill trash. You see and hear about it frequently This does not seem an unusual move
Doesn’t seem like lame logic to me. Cutting costs by eliminating something that did little to enhance the flight experience and would soon end up in a landfill is a good thing.
Correct me please if I’m wrong, but weren’t these headrest covers fabric? It would be saving on water, detergent and energy but not so much landfill waste if so.
Customers were demanding yes hygiene on their flight flights.
Yes = less
This is British Airways. You can't get less hygienic than the English.