I kind of agree. I flew BA first class from Seattle to London a few years ago with my pregnant wife and 1 1/2 year old daughter. My wife's seat wouldn't recline to the bed position. I swapped with her but absolutely no offer for compensation was offered. Quite often, first is mostly empty but on this flight it was full. I spent the night trying to keep from sliding down hill like you do on Delta business flights.

Now, this was needless to say not a horrible experience in any way but still disappointing. I expected more. Unfortunately, Lufthansa doesn't fly out of PDX anymore because both their first and business class seats were great!

I flew London/Joburg last July first class on a new 380 Airbus with BA.
The cabin was understaffed and the whole experience was a huge disappointment.
It was not even up to the standard of most business class.
As a Brit I'm embarrassed to admit that I avoid BA whenever possible.

Sadly many airlines are like that now. I just flew from Miami to Dubai via London last night and the first class ride was a bit disappointing. However, service was great and the aircraft was clean.

quote:

Originally posted by SFRanger7GP:
Sadly many airlines are like that now. I just flew from Miami to Dubai via London last night and the first class ride was a bit disappointing. However, service was great and the aircraft was clean.

If the service was great and the aircraft was clean, then what was the problem? The color of the decor? Miami and Dubai are too far apart? The pilot looked for the roughest air?

Old aircraft that desperately needs modernization, old and broken down seats, (many seats not functioning properly], problems with entertainment system, crappy food...does that explain better? These are problems that BA Leadership must address and customers should not have to put up with it. These are examples of endemic problems in many businesses that have a captured market.

But as I stated, the crew worked hard to make the best of a situation and conditions that their company put them in. I don't blame them. The only thing worse than an uncomfortable ride is an uncomfortable and filthy ride with a rude crew. The aircraft (and bathrooms) were very clean and the crew kept it that way during the flight. The crew was very polite and tried to resolve problems. I did not intend to come across as negative or uneducated in my earlier post. I was merely trying to look at some of the good points of the flight. As you said, it is too long from Miami to Dubai so I try to be positive and focus on the good instead of the negative. It helps me to enjoy life more.

I've flown BA First 3 times and have had fair experiences. I've flown Phoenix to London enroute TO Italy n Southern Africa. BA's business class I think is actually better.

I recently flew Deltas business Elite to London and found the food, entertainment, and especially the staff to be EXCELLENT!seriously a 10 out of 10. I've heard from friends inside the aviation community that Delta has really turned things around and is spoken highly of in the Biz.