British Airways to drop M&S?

The Sun has reported that British Airways is to drop Marks & Spencer as its on-board supplier of purchasable catering for its Euro Traveller cabin.

At the same time BTN is receiving complaints regarding the offerings in Club Europe, said to be the same food but sealed and plated “due to Covid-19.”  

“We offer complimentary refreshments, including vegetarian options, along with a bottle of water. Please speak to a member of crew if you would like a juice or hot drink. Our ‘buy on board’, pre-pay and pre-order services are temporarily suspended,” said a spokesperson, adding “We’re off on a new flight path. We look forward to announcing our exciting new buy-on-board proposition with a great British brand that customers have told us they love.”

This is believed to be either Greggs or Waitrose, with The Sun reporting that both companies have submitted proposals.

Unfortunately BA seems to have got it wrong. In various trips with Vueling, easyJet and Ryanair over the past couple of years, it has been clear that all have a far broader range – with better availability – than British Airways.  The actual shop M&S product is probably better.  The problem might be the actual managing of the supply.

But don’t rely on BA for any cabin service information.  At the time of publishing the British Airways website still lists the New York service which was officially cancelled in March of this year.  

www.britishairways.com/en-gb/information/travel-classes/business/club-world-london-city

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OUR READERS' FINEST WORDS (All times and dates are GMT)

All comments are filtered to exclude any excesses but the Editor does not have to agree with what is being said. 100 words maximum

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Allan Schoenherr, Prague, CZ

I agree with Richard here. There is a real opportunity right now to differentiate on quality of service rather than the price driven race to the bottom. We have seen how the US carriers have started offering more flexibility and bundling at the present time. BA could lead the way over here - start offering complimentary snacks and drinks in Economy and including a bag and date changes free. That would win me over every time.

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Ian Hamer, UK

There is a real opportunity for BA to recreate the brand it abandoned in its race to the bottom. On food, the M&S offering was awful but it has taken a long time for them to realise it. How many other areas of customer service and product offerings can BA improve and create a blue sky difference from other airlines?

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Ian Hamer, UK

There is a real opportunity for BA to recreate the brand it abandoned in its race to the bottom. On food, the M&S offering was awful but it has taken a long time for them to realise it. How many other areas of customer service and product offerings can BA improve and create a blue sky difference from other airlines?

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Richard Wiggins, United Kingdom

The replacement is a simple choice. . Forget about a catering root and branch review - Just chop the whole tree down .!! . Let the OneWorld founder airline member get back to offering OutOfThisWorld experience ! . Return back to the iconic image and offer complementary on-board service standards that used to exist before coming down the ladder to the lower level and mirroring LCC services. . Whilst it might have been a “free” sandwich and a wine from the cabin bar, it was part of the journey experience that separated short-haul scheduled full service Goliath home bird airlines from short haul pay-as-you-breathe low cost carrier ancillary revenues companies . When flying truly regains confidence once again , it won’t be lowest pricing that determines choice of airline / It will be who achieves the most confident visual safety measures and who treats airline customers as “special” with perks like snacks & drinks and seating & baggage allowances that doesn’t need a cash calculator to determine “final fares paid”!! . My guidance is to ditch the ancillary commissions on catering and seating and baggage and offer “One fee for COVID free” experience once again and include everything in the gross ticket price menu like the “old days “ .

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