British Airways short haul from Heathrow: the Europe turns, the four sector days and why new joiners do a year of it before long haul
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#1 Heathrow, three years, and the BA threads are mostly long haul, which is what everyone joins for. The first year is mostly short haul, and nobody writes about it, so here is what BA short haul out of Heathrow actually is.
The flying
A320 family to the whole of Europe from Terminal 5 and Terminal 3. Two, three or four sectors a day. Amsterdam and back, Edinburgh and back, Geneva and back, Madrid and back, or a two day pattern with a night stop in a European city. Full cabins, a mix of business travellers and leisure, a Club Europe cabin at the front with a proper meal service and an Euro Traveller cabin with a buy on board.
The day
Sign on at Terminal 5 at 5am for the first wave. A briefing with a cabin manager and three or four crew. The first sector, a 40 minute turnaround (BA turnarounds are slower than the low cost carriers because of the two cabin service and the catering), the second sector, sometimes lunch on the ground, the third, the fourth. Sign off at 3 or 4pm. Or the afternoon wave, sign on at noon and off near midnight.
The Club Europe service
The front cabin has a meal on a tray, hot on the longer sectors, with a proper drinks service, and the crew member working it on a 90 minute sector is doing a full service in a small space fast. It is the service skill that BA short haul teaches and that the long haul fleet then relies on.
The Euro Traveller service
Buy on board through a partnership, with the tablet and the commission. Not as sales focused as the low cost carriers, but the sales are tracked and the good sellers are noticed.
Why new joiners do it first
The bidding system gives new joiners what is left, and what is left is short haul and the less popular long haul. It is also the training ground: in a year of short haul you do hundreds of boardings, hundreds of services, dozens of medical and passenger incidents, and you learn the BA way on the aircraft where mistakes are small. The cabin managers on short haul are the ones who write the feedback that gets you onto the long haul bids.
The honest view
BA short haul is a good short haul job with a legacy service and a legacy pace. It is tiring in the four sector way and rewarding in the Club Europe way. The crew who enjoy it are the ones who like the service craft. The crew who hate it are counting the days to a Cape Town. I did a year and I would not skip it: the long haul crew who never did short haul are noticeably slower with a cart.
For applicants
Expect a year of Europe. Learn the Club Europe service properly. Be the crew member the cabin managers write about. The long haul comes.
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#2 Purser, and 'the long haul crew who never did short haul are noticeably slower with a cart' is true and slightly unkind and I am glad someone said it. Short haul is where the hands learn.
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#3 Gatwick, and our short haul is the same shape with a different terminal. The Club Europe service on a 90 minute sector is the skill. Nail it and the long haul cabin managers know your name.
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#4 Virgin, no short haul at all, and I read this thinking I would have benefited from a year of it. My cart skills came from long haul at the pace of long haul, which is slower.
