Originally Posted by
GBOAC
Questions:
a) Why is BA not offloading pax who refuse to wear a mask. I couldn't care less about the impact on the passengers health, but I would care deeply about my health and those of other pasengers. Wearing a mask does not protect you, it protects others. BA have a duty of care and a duty to ensure compliance with the law. A month of offloading non-complying pax and the message would hit home!
b) Why were the Police not called? Quoting from the government's website "The police can take measures if members of the public do not comply with this law without a valid exemption and transport operators can deny access to their public transport services if a passenger is not wearing a face covering, or direct them to wear one or leave a service."
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...f%20%C2%A36400
c) would it be reasonable for a passenger to call the police (if an aircraft is on the ground) if the crew/captain fail to take action?
And this is the guidance from government re what transport workers can or cannot do if someone claims to be exempt:
Government and some operators have produced cards and badges which you can choose to wear to show you are exempt. There is no requirement to do this though, and if you rely on an exemption, transport staff should not ordinarily ask for evidence.
So as per BA policy if someone says they are exempt then that's as far as it can go, the crew cannot ask for proof, and would be wrong to offload This is different from someone being disruptive.
Personal experience when I challenge someone as crew they are suddenly exempt for health reasons even though they might have got through the terminal and on to the aircraft with a mask. Then it's stale mate.
Re: bans/ cancelling return flights etc this can happen and forms part of the warning letter potential outcomes but still cannot offload unless passenger became disruptive (thus then becomes a separate issue) . Incident form would be completed for mask compliabce and further investigation taken before course of action is taken in case the person is really exempt.
As said before a lot of crew are not happy with how relaxed the policy is but I suppose if government guidance is that transport workers should not ask for reasons, many passengers are aware of this too.