LOT passengers asked to chip in money for.. aircraft repair
Nov 12, 2018, 5:38 pm
#1
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Join Date: Jan 2014
Posts: 451
LOT passengers asked to chip in money for.. aircraft repair
LOT Passengers en route from Beijing to Warsaw had a very very interesting adventure... they were asked to donate cash to pay for repairs done in Beijing. Article from Newsweek Poland, translated by me
source
https://www.newsweek.pl/swiat/spolec...4c_4EP26gcDfVc
This trip will be remembered by passengers of a Beijing - Warsaw flight. Delayed by 10 hours, they were also asked... to chip in hard cash for flight repair. Initially, the airlines refuted these claims, but in Warsaw, the passengers were met with the LOT board member who refunded them and gave them a voucher for the next flight.
Once passengers landed in Beijing, they were asked to wait inside the airport arrivals hall. There, they were met by the board member of Lot, Maciej Wilk.
"I know that today you faced an absolutely atypical situation, for which I would like to apologize. Believe me or not, but it is indeed true that we had a situation where the crew in Beijing airport refused to accept any other payment than cash, and this caused an issue," said Wilk.
"Mr. Krzysztof, our representative in Beijing, took a... well... very unconventional decision. We are grategul that we got the flight en route to Warsaw and safely back here. This would not have happened without you, for which I am very thankful to you and once again I would like to apologize for this," he continued.
Wilk refunded passengers (they collected $340) and handed out vouchers for the next flight.
Maciej Wilk reiterated that this is a very abnormal situation, as normally there is no problem with paying for services via credit card or a bank transfer.
LOT initially refuted these claims, saying that passengers "misunderstood the situation."
According to witness accounts, LOT representative walked around the gate entrance asking passengers who has local currency, because he has to pay the mechanics. They refused to accept LOT's wire transfer.
Once passengers landed in Beijing, they were asked to wait inside the airport arrivals hall. There, they were met by the board member of Lot, Maciej Wilk.
"I know that today you faced an absolutely atypical situation, for which I would like to apologize. Believe me or not, but it is indeed true that we had a situation where the crew in Beijing airport refused to accept any other payment than cash, and this caused an issue," said Wilk.
"Mr. Krzysztof, our representative in Beijing, took a... well... very unconventional decision. We are grategul that we got the flight en route to Warsaw and safely back here. This would not have happened without you, for which I am very thankful to you and once again I would like to apologize for this," he continued.
Wilk refunded passengers (they collected $340) and handed out vouchers for the next flight.
Maciej Wilk reiterated that this is a very abnormal situation, as normally there is no problem with paying for services via credit card or a bank transfer.
LOT initially refuted these claims, saying that passengers "misunderstood the situation."
According to witness accounts, LOT representative walked around the gate entrance asking passengers who has local currency, because he has to pay the mechanics. They refused to accept LOT's wire transfer.
https://www.newsweek.pl/swiat/spolec...4c_4EP26gcDfVc
Nov 13, 2018, 3:41 am
#2
Join Date: Feb 2005
Programs: M&M FTL (*Silver), KLM/AF blue
Posts: 343
Well having lived in Poland and dealt with Polish institutions thereafter I had my own share of the obscure way Polish banks treat international wire transfer with very often the money not ending up where it should for some administrative non issues - and part of the money "disappearing" as part of the clarficiation process. I can somehow understand why I someone would not accept a future wire transfer from Poland... I would definitely not go for this either...
Last edited by Key8; Nov 13, 2018 at 3:42 am Reason: typos
Nov 13, 2018, 6:52 am
#6
Join Date: Oct 2009
Location: SJJ/AMS
Posts: 4,649
I was briefly listening to RMF this morning on the way to the airport in Warsaw and apparently he (i.e. the station manager) thought that the quickest action to take given the circumstances was asking the passengers rather than wasting further time heading to the ATM (...). Whether that's true or not je ne sais pas but this is also reported by other news channels and sounds pretty embarrassing on the whole.
G
G
Nov 13, 2018, 6:58 am
#7
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Posts: 451
Nov 13, 2018, 8:35 am
#8
Join Date: Sep 2012
Location: AGH
Posts: 5,980
You probably get something like an ashtray for the lavatory including installation for 340$ in China. Or similar minor but required fix. Not all required repairs include complicated electronics or high-end mechanical stuff.
Nov 15, 2018, 5:00 am
#10
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Back in the 1980's, a suitcase full of cash was not unusual in the flight deck on American Trans Air's L-1011 charter flights, to pay for refuelling at some far-away outposts the airline didn't regularly serve. We never passed-the-hat for donations at the gate, though.
Nov 15, 2018, 5:20 am
#11
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I remember the hijacking incident where the TWA purser payed for fuel, IIRC at some airport in Africa, with her AmEx card. I'm not sure I remember how to spell her name (she was multilingual, and had a name that may have been Dutch or German), but I remember being on several of her TATL flights.