The insane training regime BA First Class flight attendants have to go through – with strict teapot and pillow rules

The Sun

24-04-2025

Alice Penwill, Travel Reporter
Published: Invalid Date,
BRITISH Airways has a unique First Service Specialist course for its flight crew and it has extremely strict training.
The four intense days of lessons and assessments have been completed by around 1,300 crew members - and we spoke to some of them.
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Tim Baxter is part of the team that co-created the First Service Specialist course.
He also wanted to be a steward since he was six years old and has just celebrated 30 years with British Airways.
Chatting with Sun Travel, he revealed that across four days, crew are grounded in order to learn what it takes to deliver five-star service in their First Class cabin.
Tim added: "On the first day, we as the trainers serve breakfast to the trainees onboard in first class so they can experience it from a customer's point of view.
"They need to taste the food and try the tea. Then the tables turn and we ask them to demonstrate their skills and knowledge which is where we find it could do with some refining and polishing."
The crew learn about turndown service in which the pillows are only ever handled by the corners.
It's all about the finishing touches too, the bed linen has a threat count of 400 and is made from recycled plastics.
For the next stage the trainees go to head office where they spend a morning with the airlines 'Master of Wine ', Tim Jackson.
The aim of the training is so that the BA crew can have an in depth conversation about the wine with their passengers which Tim said is always a "highlight" for the crew.
British Airways serve a variety of prestige English sparkling wines in its First Class cabin.
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After that, the recruits learn about plating, presentation and broaden their knowledge of the food they offer which changes depending on the season.
In the summer and during Wimbledon season, passengers can expect strawberries and cream.
British Airways is passionate about British food and Tim reveals favourite dish is the signature fish finger butty - although that's not how he would describe it.
Tim added: "A lovely customer once asked me 'what is a butty?' and I explained that it was the most amazing breaded goujons of haddock with tartar sauce served inside a bread roll alongside potato crisps.
"Then we focus on afternoon tea which is served on our Speedbird cake stand - it's one of our signature moments.
"If you're not from the UK and afternoon tea isn't something you're used to or maybe you want to experience it, we offer something that you get at the finest hotels, at 35,000 feet."
The course teaches the trainees that sweet desserts to go at the top of a tiered cake stand, and that knives and forks being arranged in a straight line.
While service, the flight attendants must never turn their back to a passenger.
Tea of course is quintessentially British and BA serve almost 40 million cups of tea on board every year.
In First Class, you get nine variations of tea from your classic English breakfast to chamomile and lemongrass and ginger.
Something that the trainees learn is what position the spout of the teapot should point at.
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Shaw Milligan, who has been working for BA for two decades and has completed the course told us: "Everything technically should be at four o'clock, but because some crew members had trained so long ago, some were pointing at five or six - we needed consistency."
The fourth day marks the final hurdle, where the staff return in their uniform at the Global Learning Academy using multi-million-pound simulators.
Tim explained: "This is the point where they start to get a bit nervous but they're fine after some practice. We ask them to lay the table and we want them to just be able to do it, like muscle memory.
"They need to be unconsciously competent. There are 32 stages to laying a table and we need our colleagues to be confident in knowing how to do it - like riding a bike."
Shaw revealed that those working in the First Class cabin now receive a document before heading onto the flight.
He told us: "I flew to Chicago yesterday, and the night before stepping onboard I was told which espresso we have onboard, which wines, and how to plate up the food.
"We've got a system with the premium courses on how they are plated. There are a variations of starters, mains and desserts, and each one is very different."
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The First Service Specialist course runs eight times a month, but there are only 12 places in each one.
The application process is straightforward, but very competitive. To apply, trainees must have been working for a number of years with BA already, and already be a Club World service specialist.
After that, crew can apply for the course and have to submit an essay on why they want to be there.
Tim advised: "When there's a specialist in the name, there has to be a specialist in your game."