British Airways has announced a product refresh, including a new seat for its shorthaul product. While focus has been given to seat stitching and USB outlets, there’s a very useful amenity that sadly will be eliminated on refreshed jets.
British Airways Will Skip AC Power In Shorthaul Refresh Program
Among a number of product upgrades announced yesterday, British Airways will refresh the seats in its shorthaul fleet:
- New short-haul seats and cabin interiors will feature on the next generation of British Airways’ Airbus A320neo and A321neos, with eight aircraft set to arrive from May this year (pictured above)
- BA is working British suppliers from England, Scotland, and Northern Ireland, with the new short-haul Euro Traveller and Club Europe seats “reflecting a modern yet classic British interior”
- All Club Europe (business class) seats will be fitted with USB-A & USB-C power (60W) backrest-mounted charging ports
- All Euro Traveller (economy class) seats will be fitted with USB-A & USB-C (15W) backrest-mounted charging ports
- The re-designed cabins will also be fitted with extra-large bins for overhead luggage
Not mentioned (as noted by One Mile At A Time): AC power outlets will be not be included in the new cabins. These have popped up on many BA short haul flights and struck me as the single most important distinguishing feature between British Airways and a low-cost carrier.
If the Club Europe outlets are 60W, those with USB-C chargers should be able to power larger devices like laptops. But not everyone has these and it seems like AC power is such a low-hanging fruit in creating an appealing product to customers, especially on jets that otherwise have no in-flight-entertainment.
Frankly, I could not care less about the kind of seat stitching on a seat. But I do value keeping my larger devices charged, even on shorthaul flights. This strikes me as a missed opportunity.
CONCLUSION
British Airways is updating its shorthaul product with new seats that will include USB-A and USB-C outlets. While adding those ports should be celebrated, I am sorry to see BA remove AC power or omit it from future shorthaul aircraft. Many travelers, myself included, still find it quite beneficial…
Surely no one expects an airline that has diminshed premium service over the years, consistently at the head of the pack not to continue to do so further?
Exactly Budget Airline = BA
British Airways is taking care of business with the passenger in mind. Let them have a chance to (before you berate them) improve instead of knocking them at every possible chance. Whether anyone likes it or not BA is here to stay and is the flag carrier of the United Kingdom. Let them rise! Matt. I was not speaking of you. This is to all the mean and hateful trolls out there. Thanks for the article Matt!
BA is a shell of its former self. They have no interest in passenger experience or satisfaction. They have reduced staff to ridiculous levels, automated important functions and placed a monetary value on even the most minimal of niceties. As a result, their staff takes a lot of abuse and has largely stopped caring. It’s a terrible cycle. I am 0 for 6 on flight experiences in the last year. There will not be a seventh attempt; they don’t need more chances.
I have to agree. Such a shame, but the BA today has no connection to the realities of great customer service.
The people may be giving their negative responses, but they are their personal experiences. So I would not be critical of them. I would be critical of all of those people who do not bother putting their positive experiences on these sort of chats to balance them out. Part of the problem in decision making is the rising costs of everything and choices have to be made which are not all that popular unfortunately.
That’s a pretty cheap move by a rather cheap airline. British Airways is the worst missed opportunity of a premium airline, its main hub is a global city with an abundance of wealth, luxury that’s second to none. And yet, Paris, a city with as much as luxury as London (to be fair, London is a financial center Paris would only dream of being it), has a better premium air travel experience with Air France.
I like how you differentiated it between economy and business class even though, unless things have changed remarkably, short haul European/UK carriers use the same seats for everyone. This is, frankly, where I think they miss the mark. I mean a four hour flight is a four hour flight and if you’re paying for business it would be nice to have a real business class seat- and now that most have premium economy on long haul they could even just install a few rows of that seat on their A320’s etc. I am sure it is not that simple but still- US carriers figured it out and they pretty much set the lowest standard.
It is so funny to me that US carriers understand this seat thing but miss the mark on food and service and European carriers serve real food even on 1-2 hour flights in business class but utterly fail to have decent seats.
The seats really aren’t a problem, particularly if it’s a configuration with larger pitch ahead of the exit row. Having this kind of flexibility allows airlines to offer very reasonable fares including on transcontinental routes- e.g. less than €400 return between the UK and Greece/Turkey, or even between Scandinavia and FAO or Madeira. As far as I am aware, comparable flights in the USA are significantly more expensive.
BA are a poor airline because of their disgusting business class lounges, poor handling of IROPS (including agents systematically lying to customers about their rights) and lousy home airport (prone to disruption, not connected to the national rail network etc). Airlines like AF, Aegean, and even TAP are able to offer a solid premium experience, often at a reasonable price, without needing to install silly premium economy armchairs.
I get the desire to want AC power now, but with new European regulations requiring USB-C on basically everything I don’t think this is a bad move. In fact they’re probably thinking ahead on this one. Everything I currently use, laptop included, would be just fine in the new Club Europe cabin.
Most of these outlets are useless. You plug anything and they are flimsy and any small movement disconnects the device from charging. I rather use USB.
This probably means less hardware and wiring. Double savings both on weight and installation cost. I bet it also lowers maintenance cost since you don’t need to run 240v to every seat.
I’m chuckling about how the economy class seats have the same outlets, but at 1/4 the power. What’s the point? Isn’t it the same cost to cable?
I’m totally irked myself. When I fly economy, I could make Eggo waffles for my daughter with my portable toaster. I suppose I’ll need to get a “usb toaster” that will take 7 minutes.
And no, I didn’t make that up. Google it.
As a retired electrical engineer I completely agree (unless I am missing something) that the cost, size & weight of differentiating between the 60W chargers for business and 15W for economy is negligible. I think it has more to do with the British “class” policy from “the good old empire days”. There is a famous British industry story of a company (Hawker Sidney ?) that had a policy of a 2 draw desk for a junior engineer, 3 draws for a mid ranking engineer and 4 draw desks for senior guys. A junior engineer joined the company, all they had in the supply room was a 3 draw desk….. so they gave it to him – but only after removing a draw !.
If BA is doing it, then you can be sure it is the cheapest option possible for an item that could no longer be deferred. And it will take years to roll out anyway.
What a drama queen. Read a book if you can’t charge your sodding laptop/phone.
While I think the article shows a lack of awareness of both how many people charge and use devices these days, this is also poorly taken. The “read a book” trope is quite foolish, as 1) many now read on their electronic devices as both a weight and convenience savings and 2) people do frequently work on airplanes, and that certainly includes people who write and research for a living like Matt does. Indeed, part of the job of reviews is to at least write down impressions instantly on flights.
Further, you are ignoring that it isn’t just about the actual time of the flight. There are often major gaps in time where power isn’t available and we’re now reliant on devices for payments, transport, etc.
If the choice of meal runs out by row 4 (both ways on my return flight) if I am sitting in row 1c and my Wife in row 8c even though obviously we were on the same booking, because we didn’t chose our seats for a extra £60 each (on top of the Business class fare). Then get rid of the ac outlet, change the seat material all you like. It’s with no regret at all, that I will not be setting a foot in a BA cabin again.
More and more devices now can be charged from USB-C, and the voltage regulators inside plug bricks is regulating power down to around 60w anyway. This includes larger devices, as well as more common tablets and phones. Many folks no longer work on laptops and instead work on larger tablets that charge from USB-C anyway. For example, my Samsung fast charges from USB-C as does my partner’s iPhone. Her new MacBook Pro also charges from a USB-C source, as does my Surface Pro. I think Matt is operating here from an outdated understanding of how USB charging works generally, thinking it’s like those old trickles that Air Canada had on their first generation XM interior En Route screens.
That said, going lower end aft of the exit, which is always Economy, shows BA is 1) skimping to save a bit and 2) not valuing Y customers having the same experience.
I have always flown with BA long haul and short haul with other airlines. I believe removing AC will be catastrophic if you suffer from anxiety and menopause. Don’t make the mistake you will regret.