Flying in British Style

I vaguely remember a British Airways television commercial starring a prim and proper flight attendant with the tagline, "We British just know how to fly" or something to that effect.  Unfortunately, I can't seem to uncover any online evidence of this particular campaign, so instead, I'll have to segue into my review of my recent travels on the airline with this:

Whether or not British Airways ever used a slogan like that, that's what set my expectations.  And after unimpressive - but not surprising - Spanish airline experiences with Iberia and (Spanglish?) budget partner Vueling, I had high hopes for BA on the last two legs of my recent European vacation - an intra-European connection to a trans-Atlantic flight.

Whether the trouble started because of rain or the busy day soon after a holiday, boarding was delayed and we sat on the tarmac for longer than usual, it seemed.  When the British pilot came on the loudspeaker, the first bit of information on offer was that we'd been assigned a takeoff slot an hour later than planned!  He immediately went on to say that they had appealed (or whatever they can do) and gotten bumped up in the order, but that seemed like the worst possible way to say it.  British humor?

There was also the disappointment of no in-seat entertainment for the 2-3 hours.  Another flight spent gazing out of the windows!

Finally, because of the delay, our connection in Heathrow was looking tight.  A flight attendant informed us that we had been moved to a flight just an hour later.  However, upon landing with over an hour to make the original ETD, we checked and hadn't been transferred at all!  The effort was nice to address the delay, but all it really did was sow confusion (and possibly delay any checked luggage...).

In no way was this a true air travel nightmare, but I was definitely let down.  Was British Airways the victim of expectations totally fabricated by my imagination?  Now the Emirates folks, they sure look like they know how to fly right...