British Airways has decided to go big on Christmas this year, becoming the first major international airline to start serving festive Christmas dinners in early December – the decision has outraged some passengers and has sparked a heated debate on when and how big companies should mark the festive season.
Passenger complains that British Airways is celebrating Christmas
British Airways is really taking Christmas seriously in 2025 and has pulled out all the stops to make sure passengers get into the festive spirit for what is meant to be the most magical time of year.
The airline’s efforts, though, appear to have fallen flat with some passengers, including one customer called George, who slammed the flag carrier for serving Christmas dinner on a recent flight.
“Has British Airways completely lost the plot?” George wrote in a post on a Facebook group dedicated to complaining about the airline. “It’s only the 2nd of December, and already they are serving a Christmas dinner (complete with a Christmas hat!).”
Including photos of the offending dinner and paper crown, George did, at least, concede: “It was actually quite nice compared to some of the slop they serve, but come on, it’s only 2nd December!”
The internet reacts, and BA comes out the victor
If George thought he was going to win support from some of the 45,000 members of the BA complaints group, then he soon discovered that wasn’t going to be the case at all.
“Ah, I think that’s lovely! They really made an effort,” wrote Vanessa Giglio in response to George’s complaint. While Rose Campbell summed up the mood of many other people in the group: “At least they’re celebrating Christmas.”
There’s certainly been a debate about some companies refusing to celebrate Christmas or, at the very least, using other terms to avoid calling it Christmas, resulting in lots of people giving kudos to British Airways for so wholeheartedly owning the season.
“Most restaurants offer a festive menu throughout December,” another person responded. “Not sure what the issue is, particularly given you’ve said it was quite nice.”
While Janet Farrell commented, “Oh, behave yourself, I bet you mumbled bah humbug as they served it too.”
The debate rages among frequent flyers
George may well have felt humbled by the response to his post, but the debate about BA’s Christmas celebration continues to rage amongst the airline’s loyal frequent flyers on the popular Flyer Talk website.
“The Christmas music in the lounge today was not welcomed,” one Scrooge wrote on the message board, while another complained that British Airways had put out too many Christmas trees on display in its premium lounges.
It seems as if you really can’t please everyone.
How else is British Airways celebrating Christmas?
The complaints, however, don’t seem to have quelled BA’s appetite for going full force into Christmas this year.
The airline will be serving Christmas dinner in all of its long-haul cabins throughout the months of December, alongside a host of other festive touches, including:
- Christmas-themed headrest covers
- Festive amenity kits in premium cabins
- Christmas sweet treats in airport lounges and on board
- Christmas boarding music, as well as in the lounges
Bottom line
British Airways has gone big on its Christmas festivities this year, but some passengers remain unconvinced that the airline should be serving Christmas dinner or playing Christmas music until much closer to the big day.
What do you think? Is this a nice and welcome touch from BA or should they calm down their festive celebrations?
Fun! Wish I was flying BA long haul this month ☹️
I don’t get why this is so difficult for so many people . . . this is easy.
There is, and never has been, any issue with celebrating Christmas. Completely fabricated issue by right wing. However, if you’re a company with a clientele that is not exclusively Christian – do something to celebrate the other holidays that happen at this time of year as well. It’s not very difficult.
To simplify:
Celebrate Xmas – Good
Celebrate Xmas and intentionally exclude the significant populations of others have equally important holidays: Bad