The return of free food and drink to British Airways flights is one of a series of reforms announced by the UK airline in a bid to lure back passengers and address its customer-service failings during the pandemic.
The removal of complimentary snacks from economy class on BA short-haul flights six years ago was a policy of the airline's then-chief executive, Alex Cruz, as he sought to trim £400 million ($536.7m) from the its overheads and give customers a greater range of premium products.
The policy was temporarily reversed when Covid-19 struck and Mr Cruz's successor, Sean Doyle, has now made the reversal permanent, albeit without a return to the full range of free sandwiches and hot and cold drinks that was once available.
“You’ve also told us you appreciate the complimentary water and snacks we’ve been offering on short-haul flights in our Euro Traveller cabin, so we’ll be continuing with these too,” he wrote in an open letter to customers.
In recent years, BA's premium reputation has suffered from its attempts to compete with budget competitors, with many customers decrying the airline's falling standards.
BA's handling of the coronavirus pandemic has seemed to exacerbate the discontent, with passengers left enraged at the time it has taken for refunds on Covid-cancelled flights to be processed and at how hard it has been to check if services are running.
“I’m not seeking to make excuses for things that should have gone better. What I am doing is making a personal commitment to you that we will build a better British Airways,” wrote former Aer Lingus boss Mr Doyle.
“My number one priority is to address the customer call centre issues many of you have experienced and may still be experiencing.”
Lost luggage has also been a problem for BA and so it is launching a new bag tracking app for customers.
In addition, it will hope to avoid any more data breaches after being fined £20 million by the Information Commissioner's Office in 2020 and last year paying an undisclosed fee to settle one of the largest class actions on personal data ever undertaken in the UK.
BA's parent company IAG, which also owns Iberia Airlines, has lost more than 60 per cent of its value on the London Stock Exchange during the pandemic. The restoration of BA's reputation could go some way to clawing back these losses.
“For me, 2022 is the year we’re finally able to rebuild and re-energise our airline,” wrote Mr Doyle.
British Airways through the years - in pictures
MATCH INFO
Alaves 1 (Perez 65' pen)
Real Madrid 2 (Ramos 52', Carvajal 69')
Islamophobia definition
A widely accepted definition was made by the All Party Parliamentary Group on British Muslims in 2019: “Islamophobia is rooted in racism and is a type of racism that targets expressions of Muslimness or perceived Muslimness.” It further defines it as “inciting hatred or violence against Muslims”.
UAE currency: the story behind the money in your pockets
How tumultuous protests grew
- A fuel tax protest by French drivers appealed to wider anti-government sentiment
- Unlike previous French demonstrations there was no trade union or organised movement involved
- Demonstrators responded to online petitions and flooded squares to block traffic
- At its height there were almost 300,000 on the streets in support
- Named after the high visibility jackets that drivers must keep in cars
- Clashes soon turned violent as thousands fought with police at cordons
- An estimated two dozen people lost eyes and many others were admitted to hospital
Earth under attack: Cosmic impacts throughout history
- 4.5 billion years ago: Mars-sized object smashes into the newly-formed Earth, creating debris that coalesces to form the Moon
- 66 million years ago: 10km-wide asteroid crashes into the Gulf of Mexico, wiping out over 70 per cent of living species – including the dinosaurs.
- 50,000 years ago: 50m-wide iron meteor crashes in Arizona with the violence of 10 megatonne hydrogen bomb, creating the famous 1.2km-wide Barringer Crater
- 1490: Meteor storm over Shansi Province, north-east China when large stones “fell like rain”, reportedly leading to thousands of deaths.
- 1908: 100-metre meteor from the Taurid Complex explodes near the Tunguska river in Siberia with the force of 1,000 Hiroshima-type bombs, devastating 2,000 square kilometres of forest.
- 1998: Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 breaks apart and crashes into Jupiter in series of impacts that would have annihilated life on Earth.
-2013: 10,000-tonne meteor burns up over the southern Urals region of Russia, releasing a pressure blast and flash that left over 1600 people injured.
The five pillars of Islam
1. Fasting
2. Prayer
3. Hajj
4. Shahada
5. Zakat
Skewed figures
In the village of Mevagissey in southwest England the housing stock has doubled in the last century while the number of residents is half the historic high. The village's Neighbourhood Development Plan states that 26% of homes are holiday retreats. Prices are high, averaging around £300,000, £50,000 more than the Cornish average of £250,000. The local average wage is £15,458.
Stormy seas
Weather warnings show that Storm Eunice is soon to make landfall. The videographer and I are scrambling to return to the other side of the Channel before it does. As we race to the port of Calais, I see miles of wire fencing topped with barbed wire all around it, a silent ‘Keep Out’ sign for those who, unlike us, aren’t lucky enough to have the right to move freely and safely across borders.
We set sail on a giant ferry whose length dwarfs the dinghies migrants use by nearly a 100 times. Despite the windy rain lashing at the portholes, we arrive safely in Dover; grateful but acutely aware of the miserable conditions the people we’ve left behind are in and of the privilege of choice.
GIANT REVIEW
Starring: Amir El-Masry, Pierce Brosnan
Director: Athale
Rating: 4/5
