Round The World and other travels

Flight Log 6 : BA38

Beijing (PEK) - London Heathrow (LHR)

I boarded via Door 1L, where I was greeted by two smiling and friendly cabin crew members, and took the short walk to 1A. As I settled down and placed all the things I thought I'd need on the ledge by the window, I briefly considered whether I should follow my usual practice and leave out my camera. I elected to stick by my previous decision not to take any photographs during this flight, as it was a strike-breaking service. The cabin crew had taken the courageous decision to work on, against the wishes of the union, in the interests of putting their customers first and keeping the airline in business. The last thing I wanted to do was make any of them feel uncomfortable by waving a camera around, although of course I would never have dreamed of pointing it at any of them, even under normal circumstances.

While boarding was taking place, I was brought a glass of Champagne, a copy of Saturday's issue of The Times, a washbag (of a new design for me) and a set of pyjamas. Although the Champagne was served pre-poured in a glass, I saw that it had come out of a Club Europe mini-bottle of Pommery. Such were the rather odd catering arrangements during the strike period. With just myself and a couple in the centre seats of Row 4 in place, a cabin crew member mentioned to me that "we're just awaiting a party of four in here and that'll be it". Although the casual remark would later prove to be significant, I read nothing into it at the time. I didn't even pay any attention when they came aboard, although the overall seating layout struck me as almost bizarrely odd, with me in 1A, a couple in 4D/G and the party of four occupying 1G/K, 4A and 3K! (This being a long-range 777, 4K was reserved for crew rest purposes and had a curtain around it.)

We were finally ready for departure at 1243. It was a very short taxi, but the wait for two landing aircraft meant that it was 1257 before we made it into the air. Once the crew had been released from their seats, service began with hot towels and then drinks orders were taken. I had some Champagne and water, along with some macadamia nuts. A crew member commented: "We're a bit short of food, but the one thing we have heaps of is nuts." "Oh dear," I thought to myself, "I hope this isn't going to be too basic!" I knew that BA had sought and obtained volunteers from all parts of the organisation to train as cabin crew in the run-up to the strike, and I amused myself for a while by trying to work out who was genuine cabin crew and who wasn't. I decided - correctly, as it would later turn out - that they were all the real thing.

Soon, I was being offered "some of our delicious salads". Again, I knew to expect this. Cold food was being served on all flights, in all classes, because much of it would be served by inexperienced, volunteer crew. The starter turned out to be very nice indeed, comprising Feta cheese, olives, onions and tomatoes. I didn't think it looked desperately out of place in First and was very happy with it in the circumstances. The main course was another salad, much more substantial and basic-looking in nature, topped by a chunky piece of cold salmon. Digging further into it, there was lots of lettuce of various kinds, some unexpected and rather incongruous pieces of roast chicken and, thankfully, some potatoes, providing me with essential carbs (although bread rolls were also offered). A dressing of indeterminate nature was also included. Dessert consisted of a piece of rather nutty chocolate cake and some custard. I drank French Chardonnay and finished off with a coffee. With the possible exception of the starter, it all had a very Club Europe feel about it, but it was unexpectedly substantive and if this is what it took to allow the flight to operate, then I was happy enough to be getting home more or less on time.

I decided to pass the next couple of hours by finally watching the recent George Clooney movie, Up in the Air. Although basically a love story, it has a strong undercurrent of the whole frequent-flyer lifestyle, and for that reason I had been meaning to catch it for several months. In the event, I loved it, nearly laughing out loud at the conversation involving a rapid-fire succession of airport codes, only one of which I didn't immediately recognise! I then listened to Leonard Bernstein's landmark 1989 performance of Beethoven's 9th Symphony with the Berlin Philharmonic Orchestra. It is a genius interpretation by Bernstein, with all four movements taken at a noticeably more leisurely pace than usual, exposing every subtlety of the music and allowing the conductor to wring every last drop of emotion from the players and singers. Celebrating the fall of the Berlin Wall, the word Freude (joy) in the final movement is substituted with Freiheit (freedom).

After that, I decided that some rest was in order. Considering once again the exceptionally odd seating pattern in the cabin and recalling my Singapore Airline Suites experience of the previous year, I decided to make up 2A as my bed. When I went to change into my PJs, a cabin crew member commented that I was having a lie-down after all. I said that I'd been a little bit cheeky by making up 2A and added that I hoped she didn't mind. She didn't, of course, except to say that I should have asked her and she'd have done it for me! I settled down and managed about 2.5 hours of light sleep and dozing. I decided that this was probably enough, as I didn't want to arrive home and find myself unable to sleep.

I spent much of the remaining time watching the recent disaster movie 2012 which, at two-and-a-half hours, was by my reckoning about 30 minutes too long. I was surprised to find that we were just south of Copenhagen when it finished. I changed back into my normal clothes just in time for the second meal, which consisted of a selection of sandwiches and coffee. Throughout the flight, I'd noticed that the passenger in 1K, who of course was angled away from me, kept himself very busy with an array of paperwork and that the woman in 1G spent most of the time in his buddy seat, discussing the papers with him. When 1K finally stood up for a stretch, high above Amsterdam, my jaw nearly hit the floor when I recognised him as a world-famous politician and former British prime minister! Suddenly, it all seemed to fit into place: the very odd seating pattern, with two (male and well-built) members of the party sitting in the two back corners of the cabin, where they could intercept any unexpected visitors coming through the curtains. Frankly, I was amazed that they had allowed me to keep 1A!

I then had a most interesting chat with a member of the cabin crew about BA's recently revealed new First Class cabin. With the help of a some very detailed photographs and her own obvious enthusiasm for the product, she was able to allay some of my fears about the new layout. Very shortly thereafter, we were on a straight-in approach to Heathrow. I wondered whether this was as a result of the big reduction in BA flights, or whether our resident VIP had something to do with it. Either way, we touched down on 27R at 1645 BST (the clocks had moved forward the previous night) and pulled up at T5B just five minutes later. For the second time on this trip, a black limo was waiting. Sadly, this one wasn't for me!

It had been a memorable flight indeed, with exalted company aboard this non-standard, strike-busting service. A detailed comparison with the Lufthansa flight would be inappropriate, as this was certainly not a normal experience of British Airways' First Class offering. I was just glad to be able to get home in comfort on the planned date, and made sure I gave the crew an extra-special thank-you as I took my leave.

Date: Sun 28 Mar 2010
Aircraft : Boeing 777-200
Scheduled dep : 1115
Actual departure : 1243
Scheduled arrival : 1510
Actual arrival : 1650
Cabin : First Class
Seat : 1A/2A



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