It’s easy to imagine the recently rehired Home Secretary Suella Braverman frothing at the mouth with rage after she is told about BA’s new post-pandemic Business Class service which is set to officially launch on Friday.
Passengers will soon be able to calculate their estimated impact on the environment and choose to purchase sustainable aviation fuel before downloading a free copy of the left-wing Guardian newspaper while tucking into a main course of Laksa noodles with tofu, accompanied by broccolini, spring onions, edamame.
It’s almost as if the service has been designed to appeal to the ‘Guardian reading, tofu-eating wokerati’ who Braverman slammed for opposing a rights-busting public order law. Braverman made the comments not long before she was forced to resign as Home Secretary after she was found out for breaking ministerial rules.
Braverman was reappointed just six days after her unceremonious departure from the Home Office – a significantly shorter timeline than BA’s return to pre-pandemic service levels, especially in its long-haul Business Class cabin (known as Club World).
At the start of the pandemic, BA understandably slashed onboard service levels to reduce contact between crew and passengers. For a short time, even First Class passengers had meals presented to them in cardboard boxes.
But while other airlines were quick to restore service levels to what passengers were accustomed to, BA held back. A desire to save costs was the primary reason for the now-infamous ‘one tray service’ where every course was presented on the same tray, but the Heathrow-based airline then faced another challenge.
After axing so many cabin crew jobs during the pandemic, BA found itself with too few crew to actually deliver its pre-pandemic Club World service. It has taken most of this year for the airline to recruit enough staff to bring back its old service.
The main change will be the abolition of the ‘one tray’ service in favour of what BA likes to call a ‘Bistro style service’ in which the starter, main course and dessert are served separately.
The upshot is that both the choice of meal and portion sizes will increase.
Thankfully, for passengers who don’t consider themselves members of the ‘wokerati’, there are plenty of other options to keep them satisfied with the menu featuring traditional favourites like a short rib of beef, and an apple crumble.
A welcome change, esp on the many routes with no First