British Airways has once again found a way to make its European “business class” feel a little less premium. The latest cut leaves me scratching my head, wondering how BA can be so foolish.
British Airways Removes Headrest Covers From European Business Class
Per PYOK, British Airways has removed headrest covers from its Club Europe cabin, eliminating one of the last small touches that helped distinguish its short-haul business class hard product from economy.
Yes, headrest covers.
Thankfully, I suppose, this is not a major product change. It does not affect the seat, the food, or the schedule. But that’s precisely why it matters…how can BA be so cheap? BA says it is an issue of time, not cost:
From May 6, however, British Airways will no longer place headrest covers on seats being sold as Club Europe. The airline says the change is needed to reduce the workload of cleaners in between flights, thereby reducing turnaround times and ensuring that flights aren’t delayed.
But that sounds like the same load of malarkey that BA used to cut hot meals from European business class, also claiming “time restraints” made such service untenable (even though it takes the same amount of time to serve a cold meal as it does a hot meal).
> Read More: British Airways Is Cutting Hot Breakfast In Business Class And Calling It “Better Service”
A Small Change That Says A Lot
Club Europe has always featured the same seat as economy, with a blocked middle seat, better catering, lounge access, and a few visual cues to make the cabin feel different (I miss the framed the pictures on the bulkhead, but I mean the head rest covers here).
Those visual cues are disappearing.
Headrest covers may seem trivial, but they signaled that you were sitting in a different cabin and added a sense of cleanliness, especially if changed daily or between flights, and a subtle layer of polish.
It’s not that a headrest cover really matters, but it just strikes me as another warning sign that British Airways is desperately trying to cut costs in the silliest of ways.
Death By A Thousand Cuts
British Airways has not gutted Club Europe overnight. Instead, it has chipped away at it with small changes and incremental downgrades. Individually, each change is easy to dismiss. Together, they add up and this latest move fits that pattern perfectly.
It is not about saving money on headrest covers alone. It is about a broader philosophy: trimming anything that it can get away with. That may make sense on a spreadsheet, but it does not feel very premium and seems penny wise, pound foolish.
Short-haul business class in Europe is already a tough sell. Passengers are paying for the ground experience, better service, and a little more space onboard. When the onboard experience increasingly looks identical to economy, that value proposition becomes harder to justify.
Airlines like Air France and even Lufthansa have worked to maintain at least some visual and service distinction, but British Airways appears to be going in the opposite direction…
CONCLUSION
Removing headrest covers is a small change, but so revealing of the current philosophy at British Airways.
No carrier, most of at all British Airways as it fiercely competes with Ryanair Air, easyJet, and other low-cost competitors, will be able to cut their way to growth. It’s not a winning formula…
Can we please stop calling it ‘business’ class… intra-Europe, 3-3 Economy seats with middle-seat-blocked and a meal… it’s really ‘Economy’ Plus.
I think we call it how it is marketed, which is still business class, just like domestic first class in the USA always leads to outcry, but it is what it is.
It is what it is… for now. I’d hope we can shame them all into calling it something different. Bah!
It may be marketed as business class, but it is not called business class, it is called Club Europe, and what a crappy Club it is! Only Turkish Airlines has a truly short haul Business Class for short haul European flights. I get better legroom with BA when I select my exit row seats for free, and I still have lounge access, priority check in and boarding, with my new downgraded status to Silver.
This doesn’t seem like the right move for the adept flag carrier of the UK.
This is further evidence that Club Europe is BA’s least luxurious business class product.
You really needed this to tell you that?
Fully agree with you. I also miss the framed pictures on the bulkheads.
Catering and inflight service are still very good, and the BA lounges finally have a very good selection of food throughout the day (we try to avoid the north and south lounges, and prefer the T5B satellite lounge). The problem of over crowding is also significantly less, as a lot of members did not qualify for elite status with the new British Airways Club thresholds.
I regret to inform that serving a cold meal takes a fraction of serving a hot meal. meals don’t just warm up by self determination and they are then loaded onto a trolley. their foil is not removed by a spirit and the handle of a.hot dish is not done in the same way as a cold one. removing hot meals from very short flights brings a great deal of space to breathe to already tired and overworked crews who often operate 3-4 flights a day easily adding up to 12h day shifts. there are many variations of a decent breakfast or hot meal that can be served on a very short flight. you may think crews are just being lazy but rest times and turnaround times have dwindled in the last few years and solutions have to be made. I agree that passengers deserve way more for what they pay. but headrests – which in fact were often seldom replaced – is not a sign of decay.
I think this belongs on the “what is the stupidest, least substantive, thing you can complain about” thread on FlyerTalk.
But as I said, this alone is hardly important but taken with all the other cuts, it truly does point to a disturbing pattern at IAG/BA.
I’ve given up on BA….. KLM and Air France now holds my alleigance, and receives my cash. Its not perfect but I feel appreciated that bit more.
How long does it really take to occasionally replace a few covers? Logic suggests the covers aren’t the real problem here
I always found the covers to be a bit trashy