Originally Posted by
HilFly
There clearly is a problem if some passengers cannot use the flat bed seat that they have paid for due to a broken footstool. This has happened to me on several occasions. (No, it wasn't me who sat on it and broke it!) If it is true that the footstools are broken by passengers sitting on them, then clearly, despite BBB's embroidery (BBB, is there no end to your talents??
), those passengers are not getting the don't-sit-on-it message. I don't know if that is due to language issues, poor signage, poor design or BBB dropping one when he should have picked one up. (Or is that knitting?)
But one thing is for certain. BA know that this is a problem but they don't seem to have taken any extra steps to prevent it happening, nor have they allocated extra resources to repair the footstools before the breakages severely affect other pax.
This is BA's problem.
(Sorry, BBB, for indulging my warped sense of humor at the expense of your embroidery skills. I'm sure your needlepoint is perfect!
)
So if a passenger chooses to ignore what he's asked/instructed to do and breaks the footstool on the way to LHR, it then has to be repaired before the aircraft can operate its next journey. Would you be happy for your flight to be delayed as a result?
There
are resources to repair the footstools, but it's not always a 5-10 minute job but takes longer than the aircraft has available to it for a turnround. What would be preferable - delay 300+ passengers or move the passenger affected to a different seat?
On check in we are aware if a seat is broken, has no working IFE, has broken footstool, etc and we do not assign these seats unless the flight is 100% full and it can't be avoided. We always inform the passenger at check in of the situation and our managers come to talk to them also if required.
That said, as has been reported earlier in the thread, sometimes if a passenger breaks the footstool they don't tell the crew (perhaps because they know they shouldn't have been sat on it
) so nobody is aware to carry out the necessary repairs.
I still can't understand why this is BA's fault. It is NOT a seat, it states clearly on the footstool that it's not a seat and is a footstool, it also says very clearly that you should not sit on it. So why are BA to blame when people ignore what they're asked to do? I don't understand that.
