British Airways is back at it with cost-cutting in Club Europe, this time eliminating hot breakfast from the menu on domestic flights. Passengers traveling in business class on routes within the UK will now find a far less impressive spread awaiting them onboard as BA “trials” a new reduced menu.
British Airways Cuts Hot Breakfast In Domestic Business Class
According to reports on Flyertalk, British Airways has replaced its hot breakfast service (typically an English breakfast or omelet) on domestic flights with a cold alternative: a small fruit plate, yogurt, and a pain au chocolat. The move is apparently linked to British Airways offering larger business class cabins on these flights, with concerns that there is not sufficient time to offer a full hot meal. But not everyone has time to eat in the lounge before boarding, and for many travelers, a hearty breakfast may be their only meal for several hours.
A Sad Step Backward
I find this particularly galling because, as late as 2017, British Airways offered hot breakfasts to all passengers onboard domestic flights (so much for the “not enough time” argument…). It was a beautiful signature touch that set BA apart from its competitors and created loyalty among frequent flyers. I wrote about the end of that era here.
> Read More:The Death Of The English Breakfast On British Airways Domestic Flights.
Now, not even business class passengers are afforded this meal option. Instead, they are left with what is essentially a light snack. This is not progress; it is regression. Then again, with the exception of Austrian Airlines, it’s not like you’ll receive a hot breakfast on other carriers as well…but it was something that set it apart.
Not A Supply Chain Issue
Recently, I covered the cutbacks to British Airways’ afternoon tea service, where clotted cream and chamomile tea disappeared, with some saying that it was a temporary measure to address supply-chain issues. At least there was some attempt at justification. But removing a hot breakfast option entirely? This cannot reasonably be explained away as a supply chain issue. It looks instead like simple penny pinching. Sorry, there’s time to serve this meal.
CONCLUSION
Hot breakfasts were once a hallmark of British Airways, something passengers genuinely looked forward to, including me. Eliminating them in business class on domestic flights is a serious downgrade and one that leaves BA looking cheap rather than premium. If British Airways wants to charge a premium for its product, it must make a better effort to offer a premium product.
These cutbacks are apparently on a trial basis. If you’ve experienced them and miss your proper English breakfast, do let British Airways know that you want your hot breakfast back.
Well they got one thing right: flying BA is increasingly a trial.
I agree with BA . We’re talking domestic here : LHR – Edinburgh . There is little time , no ?
Very happy to see there is No stinky yoghurt .
“To Fly to Serve Gin” ; “The World’s Favourite Airline Gin” .
The no time argument really doesn’t stack up. As you say they used to do it for the entire plane and I’m fairly sure at a point so did BMI when it had the Belfast Heathrow route. Enhanced catering is really the only on board benefit left in domestic business and there are cheaper ways of securing lounge access and fast track security. Between this and the changes to the Executive Club I no longer tie myself to Heathrow and BA. Dublin to any number of European hubs works as indeed does Dublin to US with pre-clearance.
BA were operating ‘Super Shuttle’ on domestic services when British Midland got rights to do the same. There was no service on BA at all but it was very quickly introduced when British Midland started to take a significant share of the market although British Midland remained the market leader on all the routes it operated.
British Midland should not be confused with what it became, bmi which was a crazy mixed up mess.
Of course as soon BA took over BD the cuts came in and they’ve just kept on cutting.
British Midland offered a hot meal on all flights (apart from Afternoon Tea) to all passengers at one point. I’ve even had a hot meal, drinks and coffee/tea on a 35minute hop to Paris. As did everyone on the packed 737.
“ a hearty breakfast may be their only meal for several hours”
The horror, the horror.
This type entitlement is why a certain segment of the public hates the “rich”.
Not judging, just saying far worse things are happening around us daily. No one is dying missing a meal for several hours.
Agree . Everyone knows Pret a Manger is available before and after a domestic flight . Eat two sandwiches before , and then two more after , the flight . Skip lunch .
Let them hate and let us have our hot breakfast would be a perfect win win.
I rarely agree with service cutbacks, but this one does seem rather obvious when we’re talking about domestic UK flights and Club Europe cabins growing in size. Seems much easier and smarter to get everyone a drink and a meal to finish with time before landing vs depriving someone of a “hot meal” for a 45 minute flight
I would agree with BA’s reasoning that serving a hot breakfast and offering passengers a choice of two meal options on a 45 minutes flight with a large Business Class cabin is complicated. That said, they appear to get it done on 45 minutes flights to CDG or BRU. So, let’s not give them any ideas to eliminate hot breakfast on those flights too.
What is the point of business class if no proper food is served? The seat is the same as in economy, as is the legroom and seat width. Having the centre seat free is simply not sufficient for the premium charged.
Matthew,
I’m a bit behind on my LH and AF meal service offerings. I know the seats are basically the same as BA Club Europe, but are LH and AF serving hot meals for breakfast for flights under an hour?
No, only OS does (and TK if you count that).
But my issue is that BA used to serve hot breakfast to the entire plane. The idea that there is not enough time strikes me as stupid.
Yet , in the end , there is little time , and a lot of needless hassle .
BA corrected it’s previous mistake in serving the breakfasts in the first place .
I recall the LH domestic flights , eg Hamburg – Munchen , there was a sort of buffet where you could build a sandwich. More sensible than a hot breakfast which will free the crew to serve more beer .
New theory, Matthew. BA and Lufthansa have a friendly competition to see how poorly they can treat even their best customers before driving them away, knowing that each is a flag carrier for their respective countries and likely to be bailed out as “too big to fail” if it goes too far.
Whaddya think?
Sadly, not implausible.
It’s a race to the bottom.
When will this BA nonsense end? They continue to try everything until there is so much pushback they have to rescind.
Agree . They were right to rescind the hot breakfast on domestic .
In the era of economy cost-cutting the argument was always “if you want more, pay for it”. Now that business/first class keeps getting hacked away what choice do you have?
I’ve got BA miles I need to use at some point. I could use them on domestic AA flights but AA isn’t doing too well. Maybe on one of their partners to go to Ireland?
Any suggestions?
My suggestion is to use them on BA , and enjoy your stay in fabulous Britain .
I used to think Americans were cheapskates. Then I met Europeans. My God, these misers never stop with this behavior. Enough already.
Enough British Airways. Just stop with the penny pinching. You’re not Ryanair.
You can do better than this. Or we can.
The time issue is indeed nonsense. Bangkok Airways manages a hot meal service between Koh Samui and BKK (60 minutes) for ALL pax.
In days gone by BA operated all economy domestic services often on 757s and 767s and somehow the crew managed to serve hot breakfasts to the whole cabin.
That they now don’t have time to serve a ‘Club Europe’ cabin while offering nothing in economy which is the majority of the aircraft is just cost cutting nonsense.