Originally Posted by
T8191
Another perspective is that by keeping everyone on board, they are under control and ready to board a replacement aircraft. Releasing the pax 'into the wild' creates the risk that people will get lost/strayed and separated from the luggage which is still in the aircraft hold ... you can envisage the roll-on issues of 'herding cats' and Security that could arise.
There is no security issue as pax can deplane back into departures and are still secure. Deplaning had to happen anyway as the aircraft was being swapped.
Thus the only issue is that releasing them early creates
more risk that they'll not return to board the new aircraft in time, than does releasing them only when the new aircraft is ready. I can understand the logic of that when the delay is short, but I think that there gets to a point where that practice is unacceptable. In my view holding pax in the aircraft on the ground for 6 hours is simply too long and unacceptable - even if it is the most efficient solution for a majority of pax to get them there that night.
Leaving the compensation issue aside, I would like to understand what BA's SOP is in these situations, what drove the decision not to deplane when it became apparent a new aircraft was needed, and if BA has a time limit for keeping pax on the tarmac.