Punch Up On BA Plane

The Independent reports that there was a punch up and vomiting on one of their Heathrow bound flights after a series of technical faults caused delays and an unpleasant stop over in Riyadh.

BA has apologised to Heathrow-bound customers who twice had to return to a baking-hot Saudi Arabian airport due to a faulty plane.

There were reports of passengers being sick and of fights breaking out as one BA worker tried to deal with more than 300 passengers back at Riyadh airport.

Boeing 747 first had to turn back to Riyadh on Wednesday due to a problem with the wing flaps. Then when the same plane took off yesterday following repairs the same problem reoccurred and the aircraft had to fly back to Riyadh.

One passenger, Dean Jones, told the online Daily Mail that in the terminal at Riyadh there was “mayhem” as just one BA worker tried to deal with more than 300 passengers while other ground crew “hid' in a back office.

He went on: “Fights broke out and the military turned up.

“We were furious they put us back up in the plane when they knew there was a serious problem. BA customer relations have been useless.”

www.baisshite.com the latest news and views on British Airways, the world's "favourite" airline.

BA's Lock In At Marco Polo Airport

My sympathies to the 140 UK bound passengers who were forced to bed down for the night at Venice's Marco Polo airport.

As per the BBC:

 

British Airways has apologised after about 140 UK-bound passengers spent the night at a Venice airport because cabin crew had worked their maximum hours.

They slept on the floor of Marco Polo Airport without food and and drink after their flight to London Gatwick left with no passengers on board.

BA said it could not find hotel rooms for passengers or the cabin crew.

It said the passengers, who have now boarded a replacement aircraft back to London, would be given compensation.

Wednesday's flight had been due to take off shortly after 22:30 (20:30 GMT) but was delayed due to a technical fault.

This meant the crew had already worked their maximum hours for the day, even though the pilots were able to fly the plane back to London. 

The passengers, including a number of children, spent the night at the airport - with some suggesting that staff locked the doors and locked up their luggage.

Kat Davis, from Hemel Hempstead, was at the airport for 14 hours.

"It was a ghost town," she told BBC London radio.

"They locked up the airport. They told us just before the staff left that the airport was locked and we couldn't leave. 

"Our bags were all locked up. There were people who had medication in bags and they couldn't get to it. There was a young family who couldn't get to children's stuff in a suitcase as well."

Passengers say they have had no contact from the airline. 

In a statement, BA said: "We're very sorry for the disruption faced by our customers and will work with them to provide compensation. We always do everything we can to avoid an overnight flight delay, but when this happens we offer hotel accommodation to those travelling with us.

"Unfortunately, due to the volume of visitors to Venice we could not secure any rooms for our customers or cabin crew.

"The aircraft due to operate the flight to Gatwick was delayed into Venice because of a technical fault earlier in the day. Unfortunately this meant that the cabin crew responsible for the safety of our customers had exceeded their available working hours, and were unable to operate the flight back to London. The two pilots were still within their hours and returned the aircraft to London.

"We have sent a replacement aircraft to Venice this morning to carry those affected customers back to Gatwick."


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BA's Refugee Camp

Whilst BA and BAA argue with each other over who is to blame for the chaos at Heathrow caused by the current snowy conditions, BA have set up a "refugee camp" for stranded/delayed passengers.
 
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Branson Accepts Walsh's Bet

Richard Branson has just accepted Willie Walsh's bet of a "knee in the groin".

As per Branson's blog:

"Glad to see Willie Walsh's rather childish response to my bet proposal: rather than the losing company giving the winner's staff £1 million, he wants the loser to receive a knee in the groin.

It seems a very painful and foolish thing for Willie Walsh to propose; but I would be happy to accept. We've got used to BA hitting below the belt over the years, but I'm confident it would be the other way around on this occasion.

The terms of the bet (if he doesn't agree to them, let that be the end of it): if, as Willie Walsh predicted, the Virgin brand is gone from our airline in five years' time, then I lose the bet. If it's still there, he loses the bet.

The losing airline should also donate £1 million to a worthwhile charity of the winner's choice to ensure some good comes out of this bit of fun.

And let's agree the place this will happen is the HQ of the winner's airline. Look forward to Willie's visit in December 2017."

Cricket boxes all round!

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Walsh Offers Branson A Knee In The Groin

Willie Walsh (CEO of International Airlines Group, the parent company of BA and Iberia) has responded to Richard Branson's public offer yesterday of a £1M bet, by instead offering a knee in the groin.

Walsh is quoted by the BBC:

"I don't have £1m, so a knee in the groin, maybe - that would be as painful to him as it might be to me."

Maybe a mollification of hostilites in the run up to Christmas is in order?

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Branson Challenges BA

Sir Richard Branson has laid down a public challenge to BA over rumours that he is to give up control of Virgin, and that the Virgin brand will disappear.

Branson has publicly bet £1M that the brand will not disappear in the next five years.

As per Sir Richard's blog:

"Rumours have been spread in the press that I am planning to give up control of Virgin Atlantic and, according to Willie Walsh - who runs BA - that our brand will soon disappear.

This is wishful thinking and totally misguided. Will BA never learn? Let's see how much they believe this. Let them put their money where their mouth is.

The last time BA had to make a settlement to me for damages (in part for spreading not dissimilar false rumours) I split the money amongst our staff. Rather than suing them on this occasion, I will pay £1 million to their staff if Virgin Atlantic disappears within say five years. If not, BA pays our staff £1 million.

Virgin Atlantic was my baby 28 years ago when we set up with just one plane. Like all children, they never really stop being your babies and Virgin Atlantic is still much cherished. It has grown into a wonderful airline which has punched above its weight for almost three decades, giving much larger airlines a real run for their money.

We intend to carry on doing so for many years to come and, contrary to Mr Walsh's hopes, we have no plans to disappear. But since they are so confident, will BA accept our challenge?"

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Customer Care - BA338 LHR-Paris

My thanks to a loyal reader who advised me of the problems encountered as a result of the cancellation of the 19:15 BA338 from LHR to Paris - Orly on July 11th:

"I was on a 19:15 flight to Paris, for which I was there several hours early, and they didn't announce the cancellation until the very last moment when it was supposed to board. 

We had to reclaim baggage, go back through immigration, and then we directed to a long queue where we continued to stand for several more hours. 

A few hours after BA customer service agents came out with some bullshit paperwork and informed us that the airport would be closing and they wouldn't be able to help people rebook/accommodate them in hotels for the evening because there were too many people. 

On this paperwork we were given a phone number to call which was a) busy b) you had to pay to call if you were like us had an international sim card, and a second phone number was only operable during regular business hours (it was nearing 10pm in the evening by this point). 

Additionally, this paperwork stated that the passengers had to pay for the rebooking, hotel stay, and any other expenses but that BA would "CONSIDER reimbursing" if we saved the receipts and sent them a letter by mail. 

No one had any clue when this reimbursement would take place. 

For people with hefty travel plans like myself and my partner, this was completely unreasonable and out of budget."

Did anyone else have a similar experience? 

Note, BA were asked to provide a response/comment to the above. However, as at the time of posting this, no response or answer has been forthcoming.

www.baisshite.com the latest news and views on British Airways, the world's "favourite" airline.

BA To Google Passengers

British Airways claims that it wants to give its customers a more personalised travel experience by creating dossiers on them, many have raised questions about the privacy implications in doing this.

According to Mashable the information will include not only data the airline already possesses (eg previous complaints or delays), but also information from Google Image searches.

Theoretically, the flight crew can apologise for mistakes and be able to identify passengers in order to do so.

Jo Boswell, head of customer analysis at BA, said:

“We’re essentially trying to recreate the feeling of recognition you get in a favourite restaurant when you’re welcomed there, but in our case it will be delivered by thousands of staff to millions of customers. This is just the start — the system has a myriad of possibilities for the future."

I can't wait for them to Google me, they'll have a great laugh:).

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The Channel 4 Three

Why did BA refuse to allow three British journalists from Channel 4 News permission to board a BA aircraft departing Bahrain, a decision that caused them to be arrested?

As per Channel 4 News:

"Jonathan Miller, foreign affairs correspondent for Channel 4 News, and his team have been deported from Bahrain following their release from detention.

The correspondent, cameraman, Joe Sheffer, and producer Dave Fuller, were arrested yesterday evening alongside their driver, Ali, and activist Dr Ala'a Shehabi while filming a small demonstration in a village.

Last night, authorities in Bahrain released the group. The three Channel 4 members were driven to Bahrain airport at "breakneck" speed in a police van to be deported back to the UK, according to Miller.

However fears quickly grew for the fate of the driver, who was violently attacked by police before being taken away separately. The channel's head of foreign news, Ben de Pear, has urged Britain's foreign secretary to raise the way in which he was treated with Bahrain.

After British Airways staff initially refused Miller and his team permission to board an aircraft after saying the group's "documentation [was] not in order", Miller said, they were flown back on another plane early this morning.

Dr Shehabi, an economics lecturer, was released some seven hours after she was taken into custody.
"OK...Channel 4 three finally being deported aboard a non-British airline," Miller tweeted this morning. "Goodbye Bahrain. I met some lovely people but not many were cops."

A spokesperson for Channel 4 News said: "We are pleased to confirm that our team is safe and on their way back to the UK. We also have confirmation that the team's driver - who they saw assaulted by Bahraini authorities, and human rights activist, Dr Ala'a Shehabi, have also been released."

The team's trip to the Gulf nation co-incided with the Grand Prix - the target of violent protests in the run up to the event. Amid heavy security, the event passed off with skirmishes and a number of arrests, after activists were denied entry to a zone surrounding the circuit.

Police brutality
Explaining the circumstances leading up to the arrest, Miller said that they had been operating without official accreditation.

He said: "So when we were caught filming a planned demonstration in one of the Shia villages, they have not been particularly pleasant. They've been very aggressive towards me, my crew and driver and Dr Ala'a Shehabi, a prominent human rights activist.

"We were actually heading back to where we were staying to edit the piece we'd compiled for tonight - we'd met villagers in a Shia suburb off the main city, who were demonstrating night after night."

Responding to a tweet from the minister, who had expressed concern over the fate of the team, Mr de Pear said: "The police treated the driver badly. I trust these are issues brought up in consultations."

As per Jonathan Miller's Twitter feed:

"Jonathan Miller ‏ @millerC4

Channel 4 crew being deported from Bahrain wish to thank British Airways for leaving us stranded, refusing permission to board. Cheers BA."

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Executive Club Down

BA's Executive Club section of their website has been down for a wee while now:

"Unfortunately our systems are not responding, so we are unable to process your request at the moment. We apologise for this inconvenience and suggest you try again later."

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