Q – We are planning on flying into London next April. Schedule-wise it seems to boil down to either American or British Airways. The BA res. people are telling us they offer the best service to Europe because they have new seats and improved menus aboard their aircraft. We will be flying Business and paying cash so we would really appreciate knowing which of these you recommend. We intend to complete our booking as soon as you respond.
A – This is a tricky question which is why we refer our clients to the best air specialists on the planet. Covid has made it all an even more complicated process as the odds of your flight arrangements changing hover somewhere around 30%. BA flies some Boeing 787-10’s and Airbus 350’s from the States to London Heathrow. They have the new seats and they are relatively comfortable – not Singapore or Emirates, but nice enough. Some of BA’s 777’s have the new seats but many don’t. The 767’s that fly the route do not have the new seats. Generally speaking, flights out of JFK have some of the best equipment because of how competitive that route tends to be. And, yes, the food quality has been ungraded but BA’s Transatlantic food offerings had no place to go but up. Simply stated, neither American or British Airways are not top-tier airlines. They currently rank 3 points out of a possible 5. We are happy to send Club Members a copy of the latest rankings of the world’s airlines. They do exist and you may see some surprising outcomes. For instance, Turkish Airways ranks considerably above every major US airline in most categories.