AZ Travels the World

I have in my possession a very hard-earned “I would like to apologise…” form letter, which was given to all passengers on BA113 Tuesday the 5:30 PM LHR to JFK. It was an experience from hell – by far the worst I’ve ever experienced on BA. The back of this letter has a form to complete contact details and comments, with a request to send it on to BA so that they may presumably do something. In terms of benefit to the passenger, what typically results from submitting this letter? Should I bother? I’m clear BA knows the situation very well, so I doubt I am going to bring anything to their attention that they didn’t suffer through, at their home base no-less.

Here’s a summary of what occurred, as best I remember all the details. I was in CW, seated in the first row of the upper deck, so I had a pretty good view of what transpired with the crew. We boarded the plane as scheduled. When we walked on, the plane was blistering hot. No air movement whatsoever; the kind of heat that causes you to begin sweating immediately. It was nearly unbearable. The upper deck FA said later it was even hotter downstairs, which I couldn’t imagine. The cabin crew was clearly unhappy. Passengers seemed dismayed.

We all got settled. Multiple ground engineers and gate agents, all adorned in their glamorous yellow vests, were coming and going from the flight deck. After a few minutes the captain announced that he was very sorry for the uncomfortable heat but that the systems that provided for A/C were not working and would not be working until we got everyone boarded and started an engine. So “would everyone please take their seats as quickly as possible so that we may get underway and cool the plane down.” He repeats this announcement a couple of times over the next 30 minutes. It got hotter and hotter.

The cabin door closes and the jet way pulls away. Another 20 or 30 minutes goes by. Jet way comes back to the airplane and more people in yellow vests walk straight to the flight deck. Captain announces that we have a new problem. Essentially, “Sorry you are all in such an uncomfortable situation, but we have a small problem. The microphone of the First Officer is stuck in the ON position. We can talk to the tower and air traffic control but we cannot hear them. That’s sure to pose some challenges as we try to make our way across Heathrow and head to NY, so we’re going to take a few minutes to fix it. Shouldn’t take but a few minutes.”

Maybe 30 or so minutes later the people in yellow leave, the jet way pulls back again and the captain comes on and tells us that we have the problem fixed and are ready to go. By now it has only gotten hotter and everyone around is completely drenched in sweat and using anything they can find to mop themselves. I can't even describe how hot it was.

Another 20 or 30 minutes or so goes by – nothing. Captain comes on again. He says, essentially, “We are not able to start the engines in the usual manner so we called in for a piece of equipment that blows air through the engine in order to start it. We’ve called for it and it should be here in a few minutes and we’ll be on our way. Sorry again for the discomfort.”

Another 30 minutes or so goes by. The Captain again: “I’m afraid that we have a new problem. In the process of starting an engine, a panel that covers the hole that we blow the air into has become dislodged and we must have maintenance come and fix it. It should only take a few more minutes. I know it is very hot in the cabin, please be patient and we’ll try to get this resolved as quickly as possible.” In the meantime, he says, they’ve rigged something to get us some A/C, and a small amount of cool air begins to enter the cabin. People cheer. It was short-lived, as it stopped again in about 15 minutes and the cabin quickly begins to heat up again.

At this point the CSD comes upstairs for a visit to the flight deck. Unlike most visitors, she closes the door behind her, so we cannot hear the conversations. She leaves, looking professional but very stressed.

Another 20 minutes goes by. The captain comes on again. He says, essentially, “Well, I have good news and bad news. We fixed the panel on the engine, but during that time the First Officer’s headset microphone problem has come back. So, we have asked for the engineers to be called back to the plane and we are waiting for them to arrive so that we can sort out this problem.”

CSD comes back upstairs and goes into the cockpit. This time, she doesn’t get the door all the way closed and a few of us could hear her pleas to the captain, which essentially said that she was very close to losing control downstairs and that many passengers are demanding to be let off the airplane immediately. She leaves.

Captain comes on again. He explains that they are in the process of making a decision whether or not to de-plane the aircraft. He says they need to consult with various ground people and that he will get back with us in a few minutes. Another 20 minutes or so goes by.

CSD comes back up, goes into the cockpit, spends a few minutes and then leaves.

Captain comes back on. He says that they will decide within the next 5 minutes what we’re going to do, “so please continue to be patient.”

A few minutes later he comes on and says that “enough is enough.” He has made the decision to have everyone leave the aircraft while they sort out this problem. He says it will be a few minutes before they can get the necessary people in place in the gate area to handle us.

About 20 minutes later, the jet way came up and we all de-planed. As you can imagine, the scene in the gate area was a mob-scene, with people pushing, screaming, demanding, etc. After a few minutes they told us all to go to the customer service desk back in the main part of the terminal (we were out at 23 or 24, I forget which) to get a meal certificate and that they would announce when we should return.

About 75 minutes later we were summoned back to the gate, as the plane was ready for immediate departure.

Upon boarding (a reasonably cool aircraft!), the Captain comes on again and explains that due to the long delay, the food we have on the aircraft for the main meal service will not be suitable to eat. He says that if they waited to re-cater, the delay would push the crew past their maximum working ours and that they would not be able to fly. That, he said, would probably result in the flight being cancelled. He said that given the late hour, he made the decision to fly without food service. So that’s what we were going to do.

Once in the air, the cabin crew served us drinks and the cold sandwiches that were on-hand for the second meal service. There was not even any ‘raid the larder,’ as I believe all that food was taken downstairs to economy to try to get everyone at least a little something to eat. I don’t know what the folks in economy were fed.

All total, we were held on the aircraft for just over 3 hours before the decision to de-plane. Overall, departure and arrival into JFK was delayed just over 5 hours, as weather did not allow us to make up much, if any time.

Toward the end of the flight the FA handed out the “I would like to apologise. . .” letter and encouraged us to complete the form on the back and send it in, as he said that the company will “definitely provide something to you for this horrible experience.” True?

Some overall observations and opinions:

-- The captain did a good job of keeping us informed. He was clearly exasperated at the chain of events and I trust that he would have let us off the plane sooner if he had any idea that things would continue to get worse as they did.

-- When we were all finally able to get off the plan, the captain went down to the door and apologized to each person as they left the aircraft. I was very impressed by that.

-- The cabin crew did an excellent job, all things considered. They clearly had no more power in the situation than any of us, and everything I witnessed was managed with calm, diplomacy and professionalism.

-- I believe the biggest mistake was beginning the boarding process with such a hot airplane and no A/C yet working. It created a miserable experience from the moment you set foot on the plane and set the stage for the disaster to come.

Still, all things considered, it was one of the worst flying experiences I’ve ever had. Thank god I was at least in CW with some space! I truly felt for those in economy (and I’m told it was a full flight).

Jimmie76

I have had a WT journey where we were forced to turn back about 45 mins out of BOS and spend the night in a hotel. Needless to say by the time we landed, deplaned & made it to the hotel it was gone 1am.

BA handed out letters next day when the flight eventually left, and I made a comment on mine that on the final flight, they hadn't shown the safety video, & didn't show the first bits of the IFE (still on the big screen back then) which might have kept the surrounding children a bit quieter + some other bits & bobs. A companion did the same & he put his full details IIRC he did get a letter back saying that they had noted this and would be investigating it.

The missing safety video bit worried me, given why we had to turn back on the first flight, a faulty bit in an engine caused fuel to leave the plane via that engine combusting as it did so. Could have caused major panic but for the fact that this was a night flight and only a couple of shades were open towards the back of the plane. Captain was very reassuring and really appologised for the need to go back, and it was in our interests.

Swanhunter

I have had a simialr experience with the lack of a/c on boarding with SQ - at Singapore. In conversation with the crew the APU (Auxilary power unit) wasn't working so there was no way of powering the system until the engines came on line.

32 degrees and 90% humidity made that a very unpleasant experience, so I can understand the discomfort you endured. Having said that, when the first engine powered up the a/c did come on and we got away with no further problems.

It sounds like you got caught in an unpleasant cycle of events - hindsight makes the decision to stay on the plane an unwise one, but I bet at the time it seemed wise.

sib

I'd say it can't do any harm to send it in. I had a nightmare at EDI once, and for the first time every I felt obliged to write and tell them how I felt about the shambles that happened....althought I'm sure a report was submitted by those staff involved anyway.

Anyhow...I seem to remember I ended up with 3000 BA miles added to my account as an apology.

Prospero

I think it does matter.

Problems with auxiliary power are all too common but luckily in the vast majorities of cases the engines start up shortly after boarding. With miles of fluorescent luminaires, electrical cabling combined with body heat, with the absence of AC the inside of an aircraft rapidly turns into an oven. Not pleasant at all.

I think it is worth responding. Firstly, because the flight crew considered the situation serious enough to solicit your view. Secondly, as there is no legislation in place governing environmental conditions within aircraft, (unlike offices, hospitals and even prisons) cabin temperature levels, number of air changes etc are dictated by commercial necessity. In the instance that passenger comfort drops so far off the scale, the airline needs your feedback.

Leumas

What have you got to lose by sending it in? You're certainly very understanding, but I suspect a lot of people on that flight aren't.

From your accounts, there are certainly things that BA (or the captain) could have done differently. Also by the sound of it, the captain's hands were probably tied by procedures and red-tape and I suspect this letter you send (can) send it will provide evidence that some procedures need to be changed.

Just don't be disappointed that the 'compensation' is so small that it seems insulting after the experience you'd.

I don't have any personal experience (as bad as yours) so I can't compare in terms of compensation. However, while I don't travel very much on BA, one thing that always sticks in my mind, the cabin is always hot before the door closes. I've been in flights where the crew had to run extra drinks rounds and made announcements to explain the high temperature because we were held up. Of course, once the doors are closed and the air conditioning comes on, it'd be turned right up and then it gets too cold.

I've never had a hot cabin while the doors are open with other airlines though.

ScottC

I've been in a very similar situation which resulted in us getting on another plane at 4am at JFK surrounded by police to prevent people from entering the line we were made to form, all in all around a 12 hour delay all spent sitting in a plane (thankfully I was up front), I can't even imagine the horror of the people in the back...

Definately write to BA, the situation will be known to the CS reps and depending on the ticket and possibly status they will certainly take care of you, just be sure you don't accept a "gesture" compensation, 1000 miles won't take care of something like this.

PUCCI GALORE

Whilst these sort of incidents are (thankfully) rare enough, when they do occur they are hell for eneryone. I can imagine the conversations on the flight deck. At that point it is up to the Captain, however if you were at the gate with the jetway attached, there is practically nothing that could have prevented a mass exodus. In fact it would have taken one passenger at the point where the catering issue was raised, and demenaded their luggage back the fight would have had to have been scrubbed and they would either have had to call out a new crew or put you all up if there was no one else with room left to JFK.

The only point where I do disagree with you was not that the boarded the aircraft but that they were so long in actually calling for a disembarkation. Had the engine start been successful and no other technical issues arisen, it would not have been a problem. It was very very unfortunate that this chain of events occurred. Yes it does take time for the catering to be unloaded and reloaded - assuming that they had a full fight of meals "spare" anywhere. I think that the fact that there was not a riot or a walkout speaks a lot for the forebearance of passengers and the crew. I am not sure where passengers who do decide to leave a flight at that point stand vis a vis their ticket - assuming that they are not non-refundable? Does anyone know. We are instructed to keep people on board at all costs -but it is a plane not a prison hulk until the doors are shut. If people insist on leaving you can't detain them.

So, to answer your question - yes send it in and write. This is clearly a very unfortunate chain of events and yes, I think that you will be compensated - by how much I cannot say. Howvever, for what it is worth - I am going to start my own inquiry (discretely) now I am back inthe UK. I know that they are really stretched for crew and I may be back off sooner than later, but if i find out anything I will let you know.


PG

AZ Travels the World

An update:

I wrote BA a polite, constructive letter detailing our disappointing experience within a few days and FAX'd it to their customer service phone number in the UK, along with the completed "I would like to apologise..." form. I followed up by mailing the hard-copy. About 6 weeks now and no reply or action of any kind related to me.

Is this typical? Should I just forget about it?

dnw

Given the MOUNTAIN of letters they must be getting at the moment, I'd sit tight for a while....

SchmeckFlyer

Well, I was once on a domestic AA flight. When we were about to board the aircraft, we caught wind the flight would be delayed about 2 hours. I quickly did an about-face so as to spend the time in the terminal rather than in a metal tube. However, I was suddenly stopped by an armed police officer who came very close to arresting me, and was quite serious about my being forced to board the aircraft as I had already techinically boarded and entered a "secured area". Needless to say, I obeyed... but I guess the flight crew may have greater difficulty with an entire mob of 747 pax and then not being armed and such.

I have twice had this experience on BA of not having the A/C on when I boarded, although as soon as we pushed back it came on fortunately. Could it be a cost-cutting measure so the engines/aux unit need not be running for long periods while at the gate? Probably not, but just a thought.

I always write when I feel BA has severely bungled my travel experience. I try to be polite and measured, rather than ranting, as the people reading my complaint most likely will not have been responsible for the incident. That also generally makes my correspondance easier comprehend. I always receive a response within about 6-8 weeks, often a standardized response and sometimes a personalized response. The standard compensation I receive has been 10,000 miles and/or duty free vouchers. Only once did I actually receive (small) monetary compensation.

exBAres

It is definitely worth completing the form and sending it to them.

I flew with BA AUH-LHR about 3 years ago, and upon boarding, the captain announced that the IFE would be U/S for the entire duration of the flight. The crew duly handed out the Customer Contact Forms, which I completed and handed back to them.

Before take-off, I discovered that there was no life vest under my seat, and pointed this out to the crew, who replaced it immediately (I ALWAYS check). In the comments section of the feedback form, I wrote that whilst it was disappointing that the IFE was u/s, it was terrifying that I had no life jacket. I can't remember my exact words, but the message I was trying to convey was "if these are the safety defects which I can see and control, I shudder to think about other 'oversights' which we can know nothing about".

To cut a long story short, I received a very nice, personalised letter from BA within two weeks, along with 100GBP Shopping The World vouchers. The letter I received (and the compensation) was not "run of the mill", as reference was made to my missing life vest.

I'll be interested to see what BA offer you following your experience.

SchmeckFlyer

Of course, life vests are there just to make one "feel" safe. Unless one can miraculously make a nice smooth landing on water during a crash/emergency landing, the aircraft will have either broken into many pieces or become so badly damaged as to render the doomed passengers little time too actually make use of the life vests.

But of course, all safety measures should be fully accounted for, and I agree not having a life vest at the seat is probably grand oversight.

NYLON Boy

BA used to hand these forms out whenever Concorde went tech resulting in delays of 3 hours or more. Filling them in was rewarded with enough ex gratia miles to book a return ticket on Concorde (160K in the old days, 200K after the EC rules changed). So definitely worth filling in. I never flew Concorde to save time, so the delays didn't bother me too much

AZ Travels the World

Ms. Galore, did anything ever result from your discrete inquiry? If nothing else, I'm quite interested in what you may have learned from the situation from behind the scenes. Thanks!

AZ