BA First Class London to Los Angeles

 

At about T-45, our PA finds us and escorts us to the limo dispatch centre for our S-class drive to our gate. LOL. Just checking to see if you were all paying attention. OK, back to reality, we head for the train and the ride over to the B concourse and B35. Refreshing lack of gate lice today and priority boarding commenced a couple of minutes after we arrived at the gate.

 

But only one door is in use today and it's 2L. The good news for J and Y pax is that Business and Coach pax get what appears to be New Business and New Coach. The bad news for Jr and I is that First pax get the crappy old cramped 14 seats in the pointy end First. Seriously? BA refurbishes only part of the plane?

 

Pics from earlier...

For First pax, the good news is a very attentive cabin crew, who warmly welcomed us on board.  LP Grand Siecle is always nice even if I am sitting in a crappy seat.

The bad news is a seemingly disorganized cockpit crew today. Most cockpit crews are really good about keeping pax informed about departure and any delays. But not today. T+10 and the captain finally says hello and announces "just few more minutes for paperwork". Paperwork, my butt. I'm not buying it. T+30 and finally we push at B35. Not even 100 metres of taxi and full stop. At T-40, FO announces de-icing valve in one of the engines is not working and that we have to return to the, or a gate. At T+50, we are still sitting in the same place when FO announces that gate approach guidance system is not functioning, and it will be a further delay until they can get it working or get someone out to fix it. Seriously, how about revving engines, turn wheels and following the paint on the tarmac or lights on the terminal wall. T+60 and cockpit crew figures out how to reset guidance system. Captain announces that it will be 30-35 minutes to fix the problem. I'm not buying that one either. Fifty minutes later, our second push of the day at T+110. We begin our taxi to nearby runway 27R and appear to be #4 behind one BA and two AC 763s.

OK, we still have a chance to make our 3:35P connection. Next, cockpit crew makes a sharp right and left and full stop on a secondary taxiway. At least 10 other aircraft pass us and take-off.

Finally, at T+140, we roll and take off. Estimated arrival time of 3:10P. Guaranteed missed connection. I am tempted to make a joke about "women drivers" but I will refrain.

I really feel sorry for BA crews. My experience has been that they are mostly professional and very good at their jobs. To be saddled with an inferior product is a shame. Today's meal was embarrassing. OK I don't expect LX or EK quality, but this was one of the sorriest excuses for an international First Class meal that I have seen in a long time.

Yeah, now that's a lovely towel.

Not the most elegant set up and an oddly shaped table.

Today's menu...

Best International First Class Wine List?
Better than some, but it's no EK.

It's one thing to pick nice wines to serve, but the whole thing falls apart when wine is not properly served. Major faux pas as the Puligny was room temperature and undrinkable. And who taught FAs to pour a completely full glass of the Twomey or any other wine?

The amuse-bouche was the only good part of today's meal.

The warm curried cauliflower mousse was dry and tasteless.

Fresh seasonal salad was forgettable. Thimble of dressing was poured on top not mixed. Had to ask for more dressing to even taste it.

The BA Classic Seared filet of British beef was terrible... well done, tough to cut, even tougher to eat.  And here I always thought horse meat was more tender. 

OK, finally something edible... the ice cream sundae with all the fixings was pretty good.

Wow, that was a first class meal? Seriously? Not even close to EK, LX, LH, KE, CX or any another other international airline I've flown recently. AA's midcon domestic meals are better than this.

IFE was disappointing ... ancient pop up TV screen and crappy blurred video. Unless I was sitting in Business in which case I would have been able to watch a flat screen with higher resolution. Shall we talk about power, or lack thereof? An Empower DC power source is useless with a current generation of MacBook Pros.

Our helpful FA offered to recharge my laptop in Business where they actually have 110V power outlets. Seriously again? There is regular power in Business but only empower in First? I headed back to 21D to plug in, notice the much better IFE resolution and decide to stay in 21D and work for the next couple of hours, while my laptop recharged.

With a fully charged MacBook, I almost reluctantly headed back to 2K for my Afternoon Tea. This time, I think I sliced and applied the cream and jam in the proper British sequence. Prospero and Betteronacamel, how did I do?

Nice scenery on the final leg of the flight.

We finally landed at LAX two hours late. Can't imagine BA made money on this flight today. Tons of misconnects as the BA rep had at least 40 ticket jackets with new connecting vouchers. To their credit, BA found and purchased 2 First seats for us on the 5:52P United flight. Suspect they lost money on us today considering we were on the el cheapo x-CMB First fare.

Summary:
Very disappointing day with BA, which IMO is just a mediocre mid-tier airline.
Don't know how they even compete against Asian and other quality European airlines. And since I can't imagine AA would be any worse, my next LHR-LAX on the xCMB fare will be on AA.