BA Club World and First from the galley: the long haul premium cabins day to day, the service flow, the crew positions and what the purser is actually doing
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#1 BA purser, eight years, and the BA threads on here are the recruitment, the seniority, the bases and the short haul. Nobody has written the premium cabins from the galley, which is where most of the long haul crew spend their careers. Here is Club World and First, hour by hour.
The cabins
Club World (business) on the 777, 787, A350 and A380, with the newer Club Suite (the door, the direct aisle access) rolling across the fleet. First on the 777 and A380 with the suites. A Club World cabin of 40 to 60 seats with four to six crew and a First cabin of 8 to 14 with two crew, plus the CSM over the aircraft and the pursers over the cabins.
Boarding
Welcome at the door, the pre departure drinks (champagne or water, the Club service), the menu and the amenity kit, the coat, the special meal confirmation. The First crew do the suites personally; the Club crew work the cabin in zones. The purser does the announcement and the boarding count and watches the door.
The first service
Club World: the meal from the menu, restaurant style on the newer cabins with a cart on the older, the wine service with the list, the dessert and cheese, about two hours for a full cabin. First: the a la carte, dine when you want, the wine from the First list, the afternoon tea on the day flights, the table set with the linen and the full place setting. The purser sequences the crew and solves the run outs, which in Club are about the main course and in First are about the timing.
The quiet middle
The beds (the crew help on request and the Club Suite converts itself), the snack basket in the galley, the water runs, the crew rest rotation, the paperwork for the purser, the medical if one happens. The First crew sit in the galley with the door open and listen for the suite that needs something.
The second service
Breakfast or the light meal 90 minutes before landing. Club runs it fast. First does it as a second restaurant service in miniature. The landing preparation and the cabin secure, and the purser's last walk.
What the purser is actually doing
The briefing before the flight, the crew allocation, the cabin's paperwork, the liaison with the CSM and the flight deck, the passenger issues that escalate (the seat that will not recline, the meal choice that ran out for the passenger who booked it, the complaint), the medical, the crew's rest rotation, the appraisals of the new joiners, and some of the service when the cabin needs an extra pair of hands. On a good night I pour the First champagne. On a bad night I do the paperwork for a diversion.
The BA style
Between the Gulf choreography and the US conversation: a British service, polite, a little reserved, with the humour the passengers expect from a BA crew. The Club passengers are the London business travellers who know the product and the leisure passengers on the trip of the year. The First passengers are the famous, the rich and the upgraded, in Joe's ratio.
For the short haul crew bidding long haul
The Club service is the Club Europe service made longer and more careful. The First service is a restaurant. The short haul years taught you the hands; the long haul course teaches the timing. And the purser you fly with on your first Club World is the one who writes the feedback that decides the next bid, so ask them what to do and do it.
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#2 Heathrow, three years, and my first Club World was with Gavin and he said 'ask me what to do and do it' in the briefing. I did. The feedback got me the next bid. The thread is exactly the flight.
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#3 BA, and the First galley with the door open listening for the suite is the exact image of the job. Two crew, eight suites, and the ears. The Club cabin is the hands; the First cabin is the ears.
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#4 Virgin, 14 years, and the Virgin Upper Class galley is the same shape with the bar instead of the First cabin. The purser's night (champagne or diversion paperwork) is every long haul purser's night. Gavin has the British premium service exactly.
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#5 Emirates business, and the BA Club style being between the Gulf and the US is the right placement. More reserved than us, more choreographed than United. The passengers choose the style they want and BA's is a real one.
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#6 Virgin, two years, and the 'short haul taught the hands, long haul teaches the timing' line is the one I needed as a crew member who never did short haul. My timing came late. My hands came from the Upper Class galley the slow way.
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#7 BA Gatwick, and the Caribbean Club World from Gatwick is the leisure version: the same service, the holiday passengers, the Barbados landing. The purser's night is the same. The champagne is the same.
