British Airways is waiting to see just how many people complain about the recent changes it made to catering on board short-haul routes in Business Class before it considers any changes or even a complete U-turn, PYOK can exclusively reveal.
Even more importantly, BA is assessing whether the latest cutbacks will leave a meaningful dent in customer satisfaction and intent to travel with the airline in the future. If the metrics fall within BA’s tolerance levels, the changes are here to stay.
British Airways cuts food in Club Europe
Late last year, it was revealed that British Airways was making changes to the food and drink it offered Business Class passengers booked in its Club Europe cabin on short-haul routes.
At the time, BA explained that the changes were necessary because its cabin crew were otherwise struggling to serve passengers on short-haul flights, and that cutting portion sizes would somehow give the crew more time to “engage” with customers.
The first, and most publicized, round of cuts to BA’s short-haul catering last December was to the hot English Breakfast, although it later emerged that the airline had made a slew of other stealth cuts that couldn’t be justified by its “lack of service time” argument.
On shorter flights, the cutbacks included:
- Since January 7, British Airways no longer serves hot breakfasts on flights between London Heathrow and Amsterdam (AMS), Belfast (BHD), Brussels (BRU), Paris (CDG), Dublin (DUB), Jersey (JER), Manchester (MAN), and Newcastle (NCL).
- Instead, the airline only serves a small fruit plate, accompanied by a yogurt and a warm breakfast pastry, like a croissant.
The airline has, however, also made cuts to meals served on a lot of longer flights within Europe:
- British Airways has removed a salad appetizer and cheese plate from meal trays on a slew of destinations, including Budapest (BUD), Krakow (KRK), Madrid (MAD), Split (SPU), and Warsaw (WAW).
- Several destinations no longer receive a seperate drink and nut service before the main meal is served.
- Hot meals for PM flights have been replaced with a cold afternoon tea on certain flights.
- Salad appetizers have also been axed from BA’s longest flights within Europe.
Airline is still reviewing feedback
British Airways has been faced with a ferocious backlash from frequent flyers on internet chat rooms, although the airline is telling staffers that it is still reviewing feedback, as well as customer satisfaction scores, to see whether any changes or even a complete U-turn need to be made.
Essentially, the airline is waiting to see whether customers are so unhappy with the changes that they will book future flights with another airline, or whether the changes will become accepted, just like the introduction of ‘buy-on-board’ in its Economy Euro Traveller cabin.
While direct feedback from BA’s most loyal customers will play a part in this review, cold hold data is what will really sway the airline to make changes… or not.
How customer satisfaction scores became twisted
Like many global carriers, British Airways is increasingly interested in ‘net promoter scores’ and customer satisfaction scores to judge how well it is performing.
You might think that an obsession with customer satisfaction scores would be the driver for constant improvements, but somewhere along the line, this idea appears to have become twisted.
Instead of driving investments, obsessively analyzing customer satisfaction scores can also help a business in its cost-cutting decisions. Taking an airline’s catering as an example, once an airline has set its baseline, it can implement experiment after experiment and see whether it negatively affects customer scores.
If the cutbacks go too far, then the cutback can be reversed. Similarly, if an investment is made and it doesn’t move the dial as much as was hoped, the status quo is once again restored.
What’s interesting about customer satisfaction scores is that one touchpoint can have a massive effect across multiple, seemingly unrelated touchpoints.
The availability of in-flight Wi-Fi is a prime example of this, driving up scores across all touchpoints, including the quality and taste of food, as well as flight attendant service. No wonder BA’s parent company, IAG, has decided to invest in free Starlink internet across its entire business.
Other U-turns made by British Airways
This may well explain why British Airways seems to make more than its fair share of U-turns after cutbacks prove incredibly unpopular.
In late 2024, the airline made a slew of major changes to its catering in Club World long-haul business class, only for all the cutbacks to be reversed several months later.
The airline has also faced a lot of negative publicity about its change to a revenue-based loyalty scheme, and while British Airways has rejected the idea of a complete U-turn, it has made a series of changes to make it more palatable to frequent flyers.
