British Airways has admitted that it is reevaluating the configuration of its flagship Airbus A350 aircraft because it is so challenging for cabin crew to work on. The airline chose a particularly densified cabin layout for its A350’s and just before the pandemic struck it was revealed that the plane might not have enough space to fly to ultra-long-haul destinations as had been originally intended.
The revelation came during a question and answer session involving BA’s Director of Brand and Customer Experience Tom Stevens in response to a question about how the Heathrow-based carrier intended to win back the respect of its passengers and crew.
Stevens admitted that the state-of-the-art A350 was, in fact, a “particular challenge” and that his team was actively exploring possible solutions. He did, however, note that making changes to aircraft that were already in service might not be feasible so they were working on alternative fixes.
British Airways has ordered a total of 18 Airbus A350’s and has so far taken delivery of eight of the aircraft which are each valued at $355 million at list price.
The airline sought to improve the customer experience by launching its much-lauded Club Suite Business Class seat on the aircraft, along with new-generation World Traveller Plus (Premium Economy) and World Traveller (Economy) seats. But to make the economics work, BA also tried to squeeze as many seats as possible on the jet.
To make room for just six additional Economy seats, British Airways opted for a new type of galley at the rear of the aircraft called the ICE Rear Galley, in which the acronym ICE means Increased Cabin Efficiency. The new galley design incorporates two ultra-slimline lavatories on either side of the galley.
British Airways also removed the standard galley at the second set of doors and decided not to remove a walkthrough through at the third set of doors.
Stevens acknowledged that the cabin configuration or LOPA (Layout of passenger accommodations) as it is known in the business was causing particular issues in the Business Class cabin and that BA was discussing changes to the LOPA with Airbus for future deliveries of the aircraft.
“It’s fair to say that some of the aircraft we have today were not designed to be crew friendly or service centric,” Stevens told employees in the internal Q&A session.
“We can’t go back and retrofit those aircraft easily, but we can make tweaks when we do cabin upgrades,” he continued.
Speaking of ‘crew friendly’ aircraft, Stevens revealed a new LOPA was in the works for BA’s fleet of A380 superjumbos. Describing the current onboard product as “pretty old”, Stevens said the A380’s would soon be undergoing a refresh which will likely involve an upgrade to the Club Suite and new First Class seats.
Cabin crew have been involved in the new design in the hope that the layout will be configured in a way that removes some of the service challenges seen on other aircraft.
In January 2020, staffers claimed there was “hardly any space” onboard the A350 to deliver one main meal service, let alone two services on ultra-long-haul routes. At the time, a spokesperson for the airline categorically denied the claim, saying the A350 had “sufficient space to accommodate catering for the duration of any of our flights.”
All of sudden BA gives a crap about passenger experience? I don’t think so.
The a350 is great for pax but seemingly too cramped for crew – don’t know if airbus offered such unsustainable options to massage the economics. Pre Covid flew another legacy carrier in their fancy new A350 – There was no mattress etc bedding offered in business cabin (unlike their 777 services) as there’s no room to carry it on board. Forward galley had One countertop. Crew used the cabin’s walk up bar zone to eat lunch, hold meetings etc – never seen that before. So I bet there’s a problem on BA A350s.
Come to think of it, another legacy carrier’s business full breakfast service on their A380s would see breakfast trays stacked 5-10 high in the door spaces outside the galley. Again, never usually see that on other jets.
“it’s”
When asking cabin crew on a Finnair A350 flight they were raving about how much they loved it! “Spacious galleys, good amount of work surfaces, an absolute dream to work on!” Just goes to show how much penny-pinching BA are doing on every A350 flight they operate.
This assumes that BA try to deliver the advertised product…. Most of the time they will not dont bother loading all the catering anyway.