British Airways has been forced into yet another embarrassing U-turn after health and safety managers put themselves on a collision course with cabin crew when they attempted to ban the use of hot water bottles on board its aircraft.
Hot water bottles might seem old-fashioned, but they are incredibly popular among cabin crew of all ages who use them to keep warm on long night flights, especially on aircraft that lack hidden crew rest facilities.
British Airways tells crew that hot water bottles are banned
Last week, British Airways took cabin crew and their union by surprise when it suddenly announced that hot water bottles were banned with immediate effect.
Health and safety managers explained their decision, saying that, given the airline couldn’t individually inspect every hot water bottle that crew brought on board, the safety of these bottles couldn’t be guaranteed, and, therefore, the only choice was to completely ban them.
Cabin crew reacted with fury to the mandate, given that on many of BA’s long-haul aircraft, the airline doesn’t provide proper crew rest facilities and crew members are instead expected to sleep on jumpseats by the aircraft doors.
The space around the aircraft doors, however, can get pretty chilly, especially when someone is already feeling the cold due to tiredness and jet lag. Other crew members use hot water bottles to relieve period pain and warned they would have to call out sick for flights if they were no longer allowed to use a hot water bottle.
U-turn comes just two days later
According to the BASSA union, which represents most cabin crew at British Airways, the decision came as a big surprise to them as well and had been made outside of regular health and safety meetings that the union has with BA bosses.
In fact, it appears that the mandate was made without any consultation or discussion on the matter whatsoever.
The union quickly muscled in on the decision, and within hours the hot water ban had been rescinded.
How to make sure your hot water bottle is safe
In fairness to British Airways, hot water bottles can pose a safety risk and have been known to cause horrible burns when the rubber bottle suddenly splits or the topper starts leaking.
There are, though, some commonsense tips to follow to ensure that a hot water bottle is as safe to use as possible:
- Buy the hot water bottle from a reputable retailer.
- Remember that hot water bottles must be replaced every two years.
- Check the manufacture date using the ‘dairy wheel’ on the neck. The center number indicates the year made, and the petals indicate what month the bottle was made.
- Never fill a hot water bottle with boiling hot water.
- Always use a cover.
- Fill no more than two-thirds full and gently squeeze out excess air.
- Secure the topper and then carefully check for leaks.
- Never sit or lie on a hot water bottle.
BA’s long list of U-turns continues to grow
British Airways is becoming well known for its head-scratching decisions that are then abandoned in embarrassing and seemingly avoidable U-turns.
Earlier this year, the airline issued new appearance guidelines for cabin crew that banned them from holding coffee cups in public, using hotel pens, or even drinking water in front of passengers.
Like many of BA’s unpopular decisions, the guidelines had apparently been based on feedback the airline gathered, but were dropped within days after a furious backlash.
And last year, British Airways said passenger feedback had inspired it to replace lunch service in long-haul Business Class with cheaper breakfast dishes masquerading as ‘brunch.’
The changes were controversially introduced in October 2024, but by January, the last of these cost-cutting changes had been fully reversed.
