Review of British Airways flight London → Cincinnati in Economy

WELCOME TO LONDON HEATHROW (sort of)

Reference the accessibility issue, both BA and Heathrow seriously need to improve on this in partnership with WilsonJames who provide the Special Assistance. The Manchester flight arrived on a remote stand. After being taken by Ambulift to the terminal building, no BA staff were present, the area was cold with minimal seating, the nearest toilet was upstairs and we waited a good hour for WilsonJames staff to appear. The gentleman who met and escorted us to the Plaza Premium Lounge in T5, as well as the two staff who "were" in the waiting area, were extremely friendly and professional.

I was also told that the B gates (where the Concinnati flight usually leaves from ) were only 2 minutes away. I was then told that WilsonJamss will be back at the lounge at 1500pm to help facilitate boarding. Why on earth would they not be there at 1445-1450pm ? Why would they turn up when boarding was beginning ?

I was promised to the High Heavens that WilsonJames will be at the lounge at 1500pm. I was not so sure and I would be right,

the uk to OHIO NONSTOP

British Airways began service from London Heathrow to Cincinnati in June 2023, initially using modern 787 Dreamliners. However, the Winter schedule saw the aircraft downgraded to 777-200s, which in the BA fleet are around 26 years old.

I had annual leave to use up so decided to visit my cousin and his family, who live and work in Cincinnati. Cincinnati's CVG Airport code is because the Airport is in Covington. This route is generating a lot of revenue for both BA and the Ohio region.

I named this trip BBC - As initially I was travelling to Bangkok ( Saudia Airlines cancelled ) then Beirut ( TK and MEA cancelled due to the Middle East situation ) and then Cincinnati.

PLAZA PREMIUM LOUNGE t5

The Plaza Premium Lounge Reception Staff had a “computer says no” attitude. I was waiting on my lounge voucher to be delivered and asked if my Mum could have mine and was told we have to go in together.

I am most unimpressed that the lounge staff photocopied mine and Mum's boarding passes and left these on full view at reception with the PNRs clearly visible. Clearly Data Protection is not high on the list of priorities of this Lounge. The lounge has a strict 2 hour stay policy from time of entry. The booth seating was not very private and the entire row of seats we used had faulty USB power ports. The seating was worn out and definitely not very premium.

The food was Vegetarian / Halal and tasted fresh and delicious.

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Uncovered bread rolls - how hygienic.

Lounge meal in a not so clean booth.

The Views - floor to ceiling glass offer beautiful views - aircraft fly past and overhead of the lounge giving avgeeks like me lots of thrills !

Despite a lrage number of guests. the lounge does not have a busy feel - I believe this is due to extensive natural light and windows.

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The toilets had no toilet roll observed on 2 visits.

Be mindful when at the wash basins in the male Washrooms, as, if the door opens behind you, you will be hit by the door.

The overall lounge staff were very attentive and even offered to move me to another more comfortable seat but I politely declined. There are beautiful views of aircraft taking off and flying overhead as the lounge enjoys floor to ceiling glass walls.

In the lounge, there was a sign stating that the minimum travel time to the B gates was 20-25 minutes. The lounge staff confirmed this.

Just to give you a headsup, BA121 to Cincinnati was due to start boarding at 1500pm and the gate would be closing at 1540pm.

At 1445pm, the Cincinnati gate was shown on the Information Screen. Istanbul announces the gate a full 2 hours before departure - how Heathrow finds it acceptable to announce a gate 15 minutes before boarding is a mystery.

Myself and Mum went to the reception of the Lounge. The male there was blank faced, unhelpful and very distant towards me.

It is only on my insistence, that at 1450pm approx he rang WilsonJames who apparently told him they are on the way. I now doubt if this phonecall actually happened. On the subject of poor service, 

My Mum, normally a strong and tough woman, became visibly distressed as she felt that we were about to miss the flight.

David, a lovely gentleman from Goa who works for Wilson James, arrived at 1515pm. He immediately put us at ease by telling us the travel time to gate B42 is just a few minutes. And not 20-25 minutes as described by the lounge. The Lounge itself is next to gate A7.

I was sad to have been told earlier that there were no Duty Free shopping near the Lounge, but upon heading to the Cincinnati gate, we noted a vast array of shops. But we now had no time to do shopping for our family in the USA. It was evident that staff working at Heathrow Airport are not all on the same page. Which is worrying given that this is a major connecting global hub and passengers will have different wants and needs. To be told something doesn’t exist when it does is very poor.

boarding

The view as you leave the lounge which is next to gate A7.

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Upon arrival at the gate, my first ever BA longhaul flight, I was disheartened to see a very moody young man who totally wanted to be anywhere but boarding this flight. He told us we have to wait until the whole flight has boarded. I am not sure what way he has been trained but wheelchair passengers are always boarded first. Our WilsonJames staff member questioned why we cannot board straightaway. The BA agent even came to the lift to tell David we cannot board. But David was having none of it as some of his colleagues had already gone down. Some of the other WJ staff were most unhappy with the BA gate agent.

So it meant that able bodied and WCHR passengers were being boarded together. The BA agent had no control over the gate area. Other WilsonJames staff and passengers were very annoyed by this BA guy's toxic attitude. When we boarded the aircraft, I told Steward Richard that the flow of boarding would likely be delayed due to the gate agent's wrongful approach to boarding.

The Aircraft operating our 5 month old Cincinnati route was an aged 25 year and 3 month old 777 ( G-VIIN ) and I will be honest, I was not expecting great things interior wise.

When we boarded the aircraft, Steward Dan asked my Mum if she needed help stepping on board. Inflight Manager Fabrizzio welcomed my Mum in a very upbeat and enthusiastic way. I let him know it was our first ever BA longhaul flight ( and I would love some goodies ). My would I be surprised !

I had to walk through Club World and World Traveller Plus to get to our World Traveller Seats. I will be honest, the aforementioned cabins looked dense,cramped and not appealing in anyway.

World Traveller actually looked spacious. Classical Boarding Music played and really helped soothe the Boarding Process. Every seat had a pillow with a propeller pattern, a wrapped blanket and a small envelope with earphones. The envelope is for BA's "Change For Good" charity which helps disadvantaged children. After this trip, I went on to realise that BA maybe needs to do a collection for the disadvantaged passengers who pay to fly in such a poor level Economy Class.

The seat map showed row 38JK as the last row - however 39JK was actually the last row - mre on this row number later.

The USB port at my Mum's seat was falling away, there was a big and old blood stain coming out from the overhead panel above 37JK.

We were on 38JK and my IFE had to be reset. I must mention that a crewmember made a point of telling a lone male that 39JK are crew rest seats ( the seats indeed had a curtain at the side ). He was told that he has at least 2 hours before he needs to vacate the seats which he complied with. The IFE was not working at all on 37JK so the couple there were offered reseating on 39JK which are twin seats, after take off.

There is costsaving and there is removing the BA brand from key touchpoints. The Speedmarque logo in the cabin on the bulkhead walls would be a simple yet impactful touch. It is as though everything possible has been done to erode any reference to British Airways. The only time you see the BA logo in World Traveller is on the headrest cover where a small blue speedmarque gives any indication of the Airline. Also you see the Speedmarque on the salt and pepper packets and papercups. The plain white sick bag in the seat pocket was open - quite why BA do not have standard sick bags with perforated and sealed edges at the top, is questionable.

It is hard to believe that 5Star Qatar Airways owns part of BA. Qatar Airways Economy Class is world leading and as for branding,Qatar Airways truly makes outstanding efforts to promote their brand at every touchpoint. The older American couple who had moved to 39JK, I asked the male, if after meal service, I am ok to recline. He was so friendly and smiled and said yes.

Sometime just after doors closed, an Airhostess Yvonne arrived at our seats with Orange Juice, Luxury chocolates, a Business Class amenity kit for both Mum and I and a Club World ( Business Class ) amenity kit each for me and Mum. as well as Club World and World Traveller Plus menucard s for me. We were so made up at the level of effort to welcome us to our first ever BA Longhaul flight !  I was really really touched byt such a high level of kindness and care !

Inside the Amenity Kit

At each seat there was a sealed blanket, pillow with propeller icon pattern and an envelope for BA's charity "ChangeForGood" which contained flimsy earphones.

G-ZBJM bound for Pittsburgh.

Boarding continued and once doors were closed, we pushed back at 1608pm. 

The new safety video played – I say new, as in the crew wear the new uniform whereas the previous version had the crew in the old uniform. Enroute to the runway I saw a variety of aircraft. 

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Kuwaiti 773 - a year ago I was looking forward to my Kuwait holiday !

Glasgow bound A319 

Just before we lined up on the runway I was delighted to see a Royal Jordanian 787 JY-BAC which would be flying to Amman. The last time I was at Heathrow in 2017, I flew BA MANLHR and connected to this very Royal Jordanian flight.

At 1645pm, our 777 began it’s take off run and we lifted off on our way to Cincinnati .The rear zone of the aircraft, so that is from the L/R 3 doors up to the L/R 4 doors is exclusively all World Traveller. The rear galley is cramped and the toilets are by each door. The last time I travelled on a 777-200 was on PIA from Lahore to Manchester in 2020. Their galley covers the entire breadth of the rear and the toilets are either side of the middle rows making for a more spacious environment. To think that BA uses these aircrafts on premium routes to New York and Doha is laughable.

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To give my Mum space, after take off , I would move to the vacant 37J. We were offered alternative seats to enjoy the IFE but politely declined as we wanted to rest. Even when rebooted the IFE did not work.

INFLIGHT SERVICE

Regards the MOML ( Muslim Meal ) , on every Airline I have flown on in my last 7 years as a Flight Reviewer,the meals are served first along with drinks of choice.

But we then had to wait until drinks started to get our soft drinks. Ironically, on domestic and shorthaul, one may only preorder any catering and yet there is a full menu in the seatpocket which is a waste of printing costs as you may only pre order online. Back to branding, the trayliner could have red and blue BA speedmarques in a pattern all over the liner itself, but doesn’t. Nowhere on the meal tray do you see that this is a British Airways meal.

The meal is preceeded by a small pack of pretzels and a drink of your choice.

Having a menu for World Traveller with descriptions of the meals and allergen info is surely something one would expect from British Airways. It is very astonishing that this information is not available online (Singapore), via email ( Emirates ) or on tv screens. A Steward brought out a menu description so that I would know what was in the beetroot drenched salad (beetroot barley). BA really need to offer a menucard with a timeline of the service either online or via email before the flight or printed and delivered onboard. When booking a Special Meal online it is hidden, yet DSAB appears in full view on the Boarding Pass. Surely someone’s special needs are more private than what they eat ?


The Muslim Meal (MOML) was ;

Chicken Mandi - Biryani topped with fried onions

Beetroot barley on lemon labneh

Bread roll and butter

Crackers and cheese

Bottle of water

Milk cuplet

Salted caramel dessert - tester size and only two bites. Even baby food jars have bigger portions.

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Blink and you will miss the BA branding ! This is inside the cutlery pack.

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After the main meal  and 4 or so hours into the flight,we were offered Jude’s Vanilla Ice Cream. This is despite a crewmember telling me earlier that no ice cream will be served ! I was offered 2 but took just 1. If I had been asleep,I would not even know that ice cream was being served.

 Prelanding we were offered a Halal Monty’s Bakehouse Coriander Chicken pastry. The pastry itself was delicious and flavourful. 

Oh Hallo..it's 1997 and BA have refreshed their font…..looks like 26 years later the old stock is still alive.

I asked for drinks and was laughingly told by a crewmember that I will be served them when the trolley reaches my row and he walked off with no effort to bring me drinks. Airhostess Yvonne was verbally explaining the choice of pastry to every single passenger. In the absence of a menucard ( digital or printed ) surely an announcement on the PA could have been made to explain the choices and speed up the service ? By the time drinks were served the pastry was below lukewarm. And to think that, in 2001, British Airways briefly had a campaign named "Upgrade to British Airways". My how times have changed. Bizarrely, the service does not start frm the back and the front and crew meet in the middle. It begins at the front and you definately need to wait your turn if seated in the middle towards the back. A strange Service flow.

Some crew wear a service jacket / cardigan. Some just have the uniform. There is no uniformed look. The new BA Steward Uniform is very similar to American Airlines. I am not sure if that is what designer Mr Boateng intended but the two definately align bar some small differences Juices were handed out and crew walked around the dark cabin with their mobile phones as torches i

AMENITIES

My blanket was badly deformed and just looked like a piece of fabric that had got stuck in a washing machine and stretched for it's life. Blankets were laughable at worst and very inadequate at worst. I cannot believe a flag carrier would pass off some badly stretched fabric as a blanket.

There were no papercups in the washroom to hygienically wash.

There was no amenity kit or even eyeshades and a dental kit, despite this being an 8+ hour flight. No toilet covers meant having to deep clean the toilet seat. 

A German lady in the middle aisle had her reading light on for the full flight and it was disturbing me. I would hope that BA will install reading lights under the TV screens in future. But that is a big hope. Again, the aircraft's age reflects the 90s, when this 777 was delivered to BA and disturbing others was a given.

The hand foam in the washroom smelt amazing.

The washrooms were kept very clean all through the flight but the age of the washbasin shows - time to replace it. Better still, retire these 777s aka flying hoovers.

inflight entertainment

The IFE was non responsive on the touch screen. The IFE selection was boring especially the Audio which was bland and uninteresting. The Moving Map, my go to IFE on any flight,was very 1990s and needs an urgent update. It was painful to try and zoom in as I had to tap on the screen several times. The IFE Controller skipped past certain points and overall BA needs to really review it’s IFE offering. Although I saw part of Bollywed on someone else's screen and it looks amazing !

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A Steward named Victor brought me a World Traveller Plus menucard as a memento.

At 1915pm, with 20 minutes until landing, an announcement was made that until the seatbelt sign goes on, passengers were able to use the washrooms.

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After a smooth final approach, we landed in Cincinnati at 1952pm.

We had a short wait for an airbridge and an Amercian Cockpit crew member said Welcome to Covington ! A miserable older Airhostess from Finland at the R2 exit, was so sour towards my Mum for asking about her wheelchair and was then seen laughing with Airport staff and her crew.

Moody Matilda was a classic advert for " You don't get a 2nd chance to make a first impression." One would believe in the way she was looking at my Mum, that she had never seen a passenger or lady with a headscarf.

The arrival at Cincinnati was a joy. From swift Immigration to the lovely staff everywhere. I wrote in and got this reply although Senior Management of the Airport are above answering happy emails that celebrate their Airport ! Of note, no landing card was given onboard the flight. Our Passports also didn't get stamps as the USA seems to have done away with ink stamps.

flight path

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