BA's Shameful All Day Deli

I had the misfortune to fly by BA to Stockholm last week, and suffer the unpalatable and tasteless excuse for food that they insult their customers palates with.

BA is the national airline of Britain, yet in respect of its catering (performed by a third party company "Gate Gourmet", a title that most surely is a contradiction in terms) it more resembles British Rail's catering efforts of the seventies and eighties.

The in flight catering on the route consists of a boxed sandwich and some fruit in sugared water, this abomination in a box labours under the misnomer "all day deli".

Unlike many companies who have woken up to the idea that customers who are after all paying for the product deserve a choice, BA offered no choice on either the outward or inward bound flights that I took.

My outward bound "meal" was an egg mayonnaise sandwich.

This consisted of a small portion of chopped egg, a sad piece of lettuce and a hint of mayonnaise placed between two unbuttered pieces of brown bread.

The combination was bland, unpalatable and unsatisfying.

I fared no better on my return trip, again being offered no choice. This time my "meal" was a cheese and coleslaw soft roll.

I saw, nor tasted, any evidence of cheese.

Neither "meal" pack contained any salt or pepper to add life or luster to these culinary abominations.

I raised the issue as to lack of choice and poor quality with the very kind and service minded stewardess, she was very apologetic and said that the staff were embarrassed to serve them

She noted that they don't eat these "meals" themselves, and wished that someone would complain loudly enough to improve the situation. Indeed, she said that some of the food that they have served was in fact worse.

Let us hope that BA take note of this complaint this time. It is not the first time that I have had to chide them for their lamentable lack of culinary imagination or skill. They won the coveted "Worse Than Worthless Award" for their Ham and Cheese Bloomer in 2003.