British Airways has stopped serving three-course meals in its business cabin for late takes offs – sparking backlash from seasoned flyers.
Starters have completely disappeared off the menu and the choice of main courses and desserts has been stripped back.
Two of the four mains on a Club World menu are cheese and crackers, and soup.
One of the desserts available is chocolate chip cookies.
A source close to British Airways says it cut three course meals on its Club World departures after 9pm to help passengers sleep on late-night flights.
In a similar move to other airlines, they said most passengers had already eaten in the Club Lounge – and found that at that time of night most customers wanted to sleep rather than eat.
British Airways has stopped serving three-course meals in its business cabin for what it calls late night flights after 9pm where they say passengers want to sleep, rather than eat
A spokesperson for British Airways said: ‘We’re incredibly proud of our premium dining experience, which includes a wide range of meal options to suit the preferences of our customers depending on the time of day they’re travelling.
‘We trialled our new brunch offering with thousands of customers across numerous routes and received extremely positive feedback on both the quality and variety of options offered.’
However, some BA passengers were upset by the move – and expressed their disapproval at the decision.
One said: ‘I would love to see the amount saved per passenger from these cost cutting measures.
‘It surely cannot be worth the damage?!’
Another hit out about the ‘cost cutting exercise by BA’.
He added: ‘Just because I am flying after 9pm from Miami doesn’t mean that I want to sleep.
‘If I want to drink I will – problem is now there is very little food to go with it.
‘I guess they don’t want the crew to work too hard.’
One flyer ranted: ‘I know it’s terrible form but I might consider becoming “that guy” and bringing a Burger King Whopper meal on board.
‘Oh my fellow biz passengers will love that lingering odour!!
‘BA continuing its race to the bottom.’
Another disappointed passenger said: ‘If BA’s bean counters can’t see that First and particular Club are their cash cows then they may as well drop the class and become economy only.’
A fifth passenger penned: ‘In the absence of a proper main, does this not mean that the economy catering would be more substantial than in Club World.’
It comes as yesterday British Airways cancelled all flights between New York and a major UK airport until 2025 while warning travellers it didn’t believe the issue will be resolved quickly.
The airline has scrapped over one hundred long-haul flights from London Gatwick to New York over the coming months due to delays in their Trent 1000 engine deliveries from Rolls-Royce.
The popular route from the UK capital and the Big Apple will be suspended from December 12 to March 25, 2025, with at least 103 flights expected to be affected.
A British Airways spokesperson said: ‘We’re disappointed that we’ve had to make further changes to our schedule as we continue to experience delays to the delivery of engines and parts from Rolls-Royce – particularly in relation to the Rolls-Royce Trent 1000 engines fitted to our 787 aircraft.
‘We’ve taken this action because we do not believe the issue will be solved quickly, and we want to offer our customers the certainty they deserve.
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