Swadian wrote:This is the trend; this is the way it's going to be. All the EU airlines are going to end up with no complimentary meal service in Y, high-density A321s, etc.. But I do agree that they should offer coffee, tea, and water with no extra charge. Right now EU airlines are getting worse than AA. One could say they are already worse. If EU legacies get worse than NA legacies, people are just going to fly LCCs. Maybe they should emulate NA legacies rather than FR.
Remember that the US legacies experimented with charging for beverages in the 2009 timeframe. (I'm deliberately not saying North American because AC has had a somewhat difference experience.). Today, all offer free beverages on flights longer than about 350 km, and snack service has improved. It's a process, but perhaps BA will evolve similarly?
To me, a big part of the problem is that carriers treat "Europe" monolithically as far as service is concerned. LHR-AMS probably does not need buy on board; a drink run and perhaps a small free snack (biscuits, crisps, etc.) is sufficient. LHR-WAW is not really a comparable flight.