COVID Friendly Catering Revealed By British Airways

byTom Boon
June 11, 2020
3 minute read

British Airways has today revealed a new onboard catering offering in response to the current global pandemic. The typical product will be temporarily swapped out with pre-packaged food, reducing the contact involved in serving the meals.

British Airways, Meal Service, COVID — British Airways will be altering its onboard meal service for the foreseeable future. Photo: British Airways

Around the world, airlines have been implementing changes to make flying as safe as possible. We’ve seen Qatar Airways introduce full-body PPE for cabin crew. Meanwhile, Alaska Airlines has made almost 100 health-related onboard changes. Now British Airways is altering its onboard service in reaction to the current situation.

The main changes

All food served will now be served in pre-packaged, disposable containers. Additionally, all cutlery will be plastic and pre-packaged. This ensures that contact points and the chance for virus transmission are reduced as much as possible.

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British Airways will still offer snacks between meals on long-haul flights, and a selection of alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages will still be available to accompany meals. All passengers will get a bottle of water as part of the service, regardless of the class of travel or length of the flight. There is currently no date for when the regular service will resume, as this will depend on how the situation develops.

Long-haul flights

The most significant changes to the current lineup will be seen by the passengers traveling in First, the airline’s top level cabin. First passengers will be used to having luxury food made to order. However, pre-prepared meal boxes will now be served in all of the cabins.

First Class:

Of course, the quality and quantity of food will vary between the cabins. The airline’s popular afternoon tea will still be served to passengers in the First cabin upon request, albeit in a box, with macaroons, scones, and of course, a sandwich selection.

Alongside the afternoon tea in First, British Airways will be serving main meals in boxes too. The meal will be the most diverse of all the cabins. However, it is a big step down from the usual First offering.

Club World (business class):

Those in the Club World cabin, British Airways’ business class, will get a slightly downgraded menu that fits in one box. Again, they will get plastic cutlery and disposable food containers.

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World Traveler Plus (premium economy):

While passengers in World Traveller Plus (premium economy) are used to a slightly better meal service than in World Traveller (economy), this will not be the case for the time being. Both cabins will share the same menu while the temporary catering is in use.

This menu will see a salad, hot entrée or sandwich paired with a small desert, and a bottle of water.

World Traveler (economy class):

The World Traveller breakfast will likely include a croissant, a yogurt, and a snack.

Short-haul service

British Airways is well known for having a buy onboard service for Euro Traveller passengers. We’ve sampled this menu multiple times. Essentially, passengers have to pay for food or bring their own. It wouldn’t be a surprise if British Airways scrapped its service altogether on short-haul flights. However, this isn’t the case.

Club Europe (business class):

Those in Club Europe (short-haul business class) will still get a pre-prepared meal, again in a box. This will be served with a selection of drinks.

Euro Traveler (economy class):

Every passenger in the economy cabin on shorter flights will be given a bottle of water and a snack. These will be complimentary, a slight improvement on the current offering.

BA 'dismissal threat' undermines talks, pilots' union Balpa says

The pilots' union Balpa has accused British Airways of undermining talks over proposed job losses by threatening to dismiss and re-hire its members under new contracts.

The airline proposes to make 12,000 staff redundant, as it struggles with the impact of the pandemic, with more than 1,000 pilot roles at risk.

British Airways said it was acting now to protect as many jobs possible.

It insisted no final decision had been made.

Balpa has been meeting with the company, unlike some unions, including Unite and GMB, which BA says have refused to enter talks.

But Balpa general secretary Brian Strutton said on Saturday night that those talks now hung "by a thread".

"Balpa reps have been in consultation with BA over its proposed 1,130 pilot job losses and we've been doing that constructively and in good faith," Mr Strutton said in a statement.

"Then, on Wednesday evening, a letter from BA added another 125 job losses and also for the first time threatened all 4,300 BA pilots with dismissal and reengagement if we did not reach agreement on changes to terms and conditions.

"I'm appalled at the cavalier attitude shown by BA towards the Balpa reps and to its pilots.

"This has seriously undermined our talks which now hang by a thread."

Willie Walsh, the chief executive of BA's parent company IAG, emphasized this week in a letter to Parliament that no decision had been made in relation to actual redundancies.

"There are some who believe the company is exaggerating the scale of the challenge," Mr Walsh said in the letter. "Nothing could be further from the truth. The situation is unprecedented."

Quarantine row

British Airways said it was acting now to protect as many jobs possible, as the airline industry faced the deepest structural change in its history. It called on Unite and the GMB to consult with it on its proposals as Balpa was doing.

Separately, BA, Easyjet and Ryanair have made inroads towards a legal challenge to the government's plan to impose two weeks' quarantine on travellers entering, or returning to, the UK.

The three have written a letter to Procurator General Sir Jonathan Jones, the government's most senior legal official.

In it, they argue the rules for incoming travellers will be more stringent than those for people who are actually diagnosed as having coronavirus - and point out that the rules are governed by different legislation for residents of Scotland, Northern Ireland and Wales.

The proposals have been roundly criticised across the travel industry. The Home Office has said it believes the measures will help stop the spread of the virus.

A government spokesperson said: "As we get the virus under control here, we must manage the risk of cases being imported from abroad.

"These measures are informed by science, backed by the public and will keep us all safe.

"We recognise it is a difficult time for the travel industry, and the government continues to work with industry partners to ensure these measures remain effective and necessary."

The boss of Getlink - formerly Groupe Eurotunnel - has also written to the government, criticising the plan for its burden of paperwork, for instance the efforts that would be needed to keep track of workers who cross the channel frequently.

"The exemption to quarantine for staff who cross the Channel many times a day, within the concession, turns out to be an administrative burden for each crossing that will require much time to set up and deliver," wrote Getlink's chief executive Jacques Gounon.

He also complained to Prime Minister Boris Johnson about the speed of the new rules.

"Limited consultation by the Home Office and departmental intransigence have led to a situation that puts a serious risk on the efficiency of operations at the Channel Tunnel, a vital link in the Great British supply chain," he wrote.

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