On Friday, 29th October, Flight BA2908 LGW-MAN caused difficulties when the aircraft developed a technical fault. Within a few minutes, a "spare" aircraft was found (it wasn't really "spare", just due to operate a service later in the day by which time the "tech" aircraft would be ready again!).

The only difficulty, operationally, was that the new aircraft had a different configuration (Boeing 737-400 replacing the 737-300) and, consequently, when the passengers, baggage and cargo were shuffled across in the computer system, the aircraft was "out of trim".

To minimise the delay, (in fact, the Flight was only 45 mins late overall, due to the swiftness of the decision to change aircraft) the easiest way to re-balance the aircraft was to move all the pax from Seat Rows 2 and 3 to rows 23 and 24, and I have to say, the passengers took the news remarkably well! (Most, I have to say, were Gold cardholders)

However, after the event, it struck me that the front rows on our UK domestic services are prized highly by our Golds and Silvers, so I thought it appropriate to, firstly, apologise through this forum for the necessity of making last minute seat changes, and, secondly. to thank any of the passengers who travelled on this flight for their patience and understanding! I can honestly say that it was probably the most hassle-free "tech" problem with which I have ever had to encounter!

For our other Flyertalkers out there, please understand and bear with us if ever we need to change your seat for operational reasons. It is not done with malice in mind - we simply can't close the flight in the computer system (for obvious safety reasons) if the aircraft is not properly balanced.