British Airways boss defends airline after customer backlash over in-flight food and drink prices sparked by scrapping of free food service
BA now flogs Marks and Spencer's sandwiches on flights, as well as charging for tea, coffee and booze
BRITISH Airways has hit back after a customer backlash over in-flight food and drink prices sparked by the scrapping of the airline's free food service.
BA now flogs Marks and Spencer's sandwiches on flights, as well as charging for tea, coffee and booze, prompting comparisons with rivals Ryanair and EasyJet.
But chief executive Willie Walsh moved to defend the airline, saying it is still worth paying a premium to fly BA.
Mr Walsh said: "You only need to travel with Ryanair and British Airways to appreciate the difference.
"Consumers value what they get from BA. If they didn’t, you wouldn’t have customers or see the numbers growing. Sales on board have been well in excess of what we expected. It’s a greater, better choice of food."
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Two weeks after the airline began to charge for snacks on short haul flights, in January, Sun Online reported that passengers complaints had flooded in, with passengers claiming the airline was struggling to serve a whole flight.
One passenger, Simon Moxley, said he had been on two flights with BA and noticed staff had been unable to serve the entire plane.
He told The Sun Online: "On two flights recently to Paris Charles de Gaulle and Paris Orly there was not enough time for anyone who wanted food and drink to be served.
"I think half the economy section missed out, at least."
He said that with passengers unable to pay using a contactless card, the process was slowed even further by staff waiting for chip and pin machines.
But he was not the only passenger left disappointed by the change that sees passengers now charged for M&S food rather than being given a complimentary drink and snack.
Others told The Sun Online that they were now questioning booking flights with the airline in future - with British airways saying they were "making changes where needed."
Paul Nicholson, who said he was a frequent business traveller and a gold card holder, said the serving process on his flight from Glasgow to Heathrow on Monday was a “joke”.
He said: “(It took) 20 plus minutes to serve the first five rows of people and only half had asked for food.
"The main issue I have is that BA has become a bucket carrier, no reduction on flight ticket costs and a lousy service.”
The airline has apologised to customers who flagged complaints on social media, saying they "had one or two teething problems" with the service.
Fellow angry passenger Tim Dobisz told the Sun Online he had gone for a weekend trip to Marrakech in January– and was hit with service problems on both the outgoing and returning flights.
Mr Dobisz, of Surrey, he said: “I have always really liked BA but it was just madness and mayhem.
"By the time I got some food and managed to order a drink they had already gone into a descent and we had to sit there and eat it off our laps because the tray had to be up in position.
"I would have chosen BA over easyJet or Ryanair any day of the week – it just seems to me that they have gone from being a good carrier to a very bad budget airline.”
Brit Julia Willoughby caught a flight back to London from Berlin on January 14 – saying staff were “confused” and had no idea how to take payment for the food items, with it taking 10 minutes to purchase a cup of tea, Diet Coke and a chocolate bar.
Stephan Gasteyger also recounted his disappointment with the airline, with the 38-year-old saying: "On January 10, everything was normal, you got your coffee, glass of water and little sandwich.
"But on the flight back from Berlin on January 12, that had all of a sudden stopped. I found that quite disappointing - I hadn't seen any warning or information about it."
The main issue I have is that BA has become a bucket carrier, no reduction on flight ticket costs and a lousy service
Paul Nicholson
A gold member with British Airways, he said he was now reconsidering flying with them on short haul European flights.
He said: "Suddenly, you are flying with an airline which is almost like a low cost one - it isn't much different from easyJet or Ryanair."
In January a British Airways spokesman said: “Our new M&S On Board service is progressing well and demand from customers is significantly higher than predicted.
"Customers really appreciate the choice and quality of the M&S range available. In the first two weeks they bought more than 150,000 items, including 5,500 bacon rolls and 2,000 bottles of Prosecco.
"We're listening to feedback from our customers and cabin crew and making changes where needed.
"So we are putting more stock on certain flights, providing more payment handsets for crew members and we will introduce contactless payment soon."
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