Not Landing a Plane Can Be Costly for the Airline

An admin error relating to a recent Brussels Airlines flight from the Belgian capital to Washington D.C. not only caused the craft to return to Brussels but may prove to be costly for the airline. The flight, which was delayed due to a change in aircraft, was mid-air before the mistake was noted.

An admin mistake relating to a recent Brussels Airlines flight from the Belgian capital to Washington Dulles International Airport (IAD) could prove to be a costly error for the carrier, reports CNN Travel.

On Saturday, Brussels Airlines Flight 515 was initially scheduled to depart from Belgium at 10:15 a.m. local time. However, because of a sudden change of aircraft, it departed Brussels two hours after its originally scheduled time.

As the flight was en route from Brussels to Washington, it was discovered that – due to the change in aircraft – the correct paperwork had not been completed for its impending landing in Washington.

The outlet reports that, instead of running the risk of incurring a potential fine, it was decided to turn the plane back to Belgium.

After flying for approximately nine hours, the plane landed in Brussels at 9:15 p.m. According to the outlet, Brussels Airlines told passengers that the plane had returned to the capital due to “operational reasons.”

While the airline’s actions saw it dodge any fees related to the flight’s sudden change of craft, legislation set out by the European Union (EU) means that Brussels Airlines will now need to pay affected passengers €600 ($671).

A spokesperson for the carrier confirmed the incident and told the outlet, “Due to a human error; this plane was wrongly assigned to the IAD flight. Unfortunately, this was only noticed when the aircraft was already four hours away from Brussels.”

“Communication on board was very transparent and upon arrival all passengers were taken care of in terms of overnight stay and rebooking on other flights. We sincerely apologize for the big inconvenience this has caused for our guests on board,” they added.

[Featured Image: Wikimedia/ Siwtme]