Dan Dare

Short tale is BA 227 to Atlanta was cancelled today.

However not after I and my fellow passengers sat on the plane for nearly 9 hours!

2.00 pm Plane was having work carried out when we boarded.

2.05 pm scheduled departure - Remote pier so bussed there. No channce of on time departure

3.00 pm Delay as then a fuel leak, Start work but confident all ok.

4.30 pm serve a meal whilst on ground.

5.30 pm suggest we get off plane.

5.45 pm buses arrive

6.00 pm stay on plane as fix quicker than expected.

7.00 pm push back and start taxiing. Saftety drill underway.

7.03 pm Announcement interupted when captain informs us that have to return to stand as crew out of hours. Sorry but we had pushed back!

8.15 pm replacement crew arrive

8.30 pm refuelling.

9.00 pm restless passengers no annoucement from captain

9.15 pm we may not be able to go as immigration and customs closed when we get there BA negotiating to keep it open.

9.45 pm further update.

10.00 pm abandon ship- no flight as senior management had suggested fly to Atlanta and wait on tarmac for four hours until immigration and customs staffed again. Captain expects to be keel hauled by passengers as by this time completely fed up.

10.30 pm buses takes us back to T5

11.00 pm collect bags

11.15 pm at Zone E customer services - hotel voucher (Sofitel for me due to status with BA) others in Ibis.

11.18 pm told will put me on flight 24 hrs later - oh no! or with Delta!

11.50 pm in room at sofitel.

12.15 am room service arrives with a cold beer.

12.30 am must share with fellow FT'ers

9 hours and went nowhere this is my personal record for sitting on the tarmac.

I understand all the safety issues and appreciate repairs need to be dome and checked and crew must be within hours so no issues but BA handled the communication very poorly.

LTN Phobia

9 hours is a very long time on the tarmac.

How did passengers handle it generally? Angry? Well-behaved?

Dan Dare

It was better than expected - but the mood was changing as the new crew were not aware we had already been sat there for so long.

A couple of people did give the crew a hard time but it was understandable as we had been mucked about so much.

However there were no nasty incidents to speak of.

meester69

I would have thought that at the 'we're leaving, but no we're not, we have to change crew' point people would get pretty fed up.

getmehomeplease

I was on this flight. I am now in my hotel room seething over how this ordeal unfolded. Dan Dare's timeline is pretty accurate. Suffice to say that a series of bad decisions and obvious lack of concern for the passenger's well-being will guarantee that I'll never fly BA again. I'm astounded that they were even *considering* letting this flight take off after an 8 hour delay with no new catering! As Dan Dare described, they gave us the main meal after we'd been on the plan a few hours. That left the aircraft stocked with just the snack that they serve a few hours before arrival in Atlanta. When the flight time is 9 1/2 hours, a little sandwich isn't going to cut it.

I have to applaud both sets of cabin crews for how they dealt with the situation....they had no control over any of the operational decisions that were made concerning the flight and were just as helpless as we were. However, BA ground staff have no concept of customer service. Not one of them ever apologized for that inconvenience. When I inquired about a refund or compensation, they told me to write a letter. (And believe me, I will be....)

(Note regarding hotel: I went to the Ibis where myself and the other folks in steerage were sent for the night. I looked at my room, walked out, and called a taxi to take me to the Sheraton.)

meester69

The reviews on TA are none too complimentary. 54% negative.

"The walls were dirty, and you must keep your socks on to keep your feet clean from the dirty floors. The moulding was in bad need of repair and cracked. There was a horrible smell of musk in the room. The bathtub could hold no water, due to no stopper in the tub. No blankets on the bed and only a light comforter to keep your warm..

The rooms are so tiny, that when you step off the left side of the bed, you touch the wall. If you climb off the bottom of the bed and make 1/2 step, you hit the television. There are only a few channels that you can actually watch, the rest you have to pay for. The internet area is not private. You pay for the internet using your credit card that can be read by anybody standing near the coin phones beside you

Shame on Turkish Airlines for placing their well paid people in such a hotel"

The Sheraton is a good deal nicer, although the manager in the Italian restaurant was a bit clueless when we were there.

Turnus127

I am not making light of this at all, but at least you got fed. Ex-USA, you can't even use the lav. Well, now I guess you can after something like FOUR hours, but still...

I am not sure I would have been a happy camper. Glad to hear most pax were nicer than I am afraid I might have been.

HiRider267

The new rules state that after 2 hours the pax have to given food and water at Airline cost. And access to toilets.

After 4 hours they have to be deplaned and alternate booking done.

If not, $27,000 fine per pax to the airline.

I think that is the new law in the US.

It is pathetic that what BA did for 9 hours in this case. With the New security threats, some Airline staff especially in the security behave if they are on a perpetual power trip.

That's why I love to see airlines being taken to the Court: it is the passenger's day in court.

Turnus127

Yes, that seems right. I stand corrected.

Panam Clipper

The new rules in the USA have been announced but are not implemented yet.

http://www.cnn.com/2009/TRAVEL/12/21...ing/index.html

Dan Dare

Welcome to Flyertalk getmehomeplease - lets hope we make it today!

clubman

Welcome indeed and I hope you two get off ok today.

On a different note though, why the need to qoute that whole post???

Dan Dare

Valid point!

B747-437B

Herein lies the biggest screw up. The crew should have been well aware of their FDTL limitations before pushing back. They were on the borderline of discretion anyway so a decision should have been taken by the captain (whose responsibility this would be) to either go into discretion (giving them up to 3 hours additional duty time depending on circumstances) or pull the plug before pushback. If the crew had clearly determined prior to pushback that they were not going to go into discretion, the crew change would have occured a lot earlier and the aircraft could have departed in time to beat the Atlanta FIS closure.

Dan Dare

In the lounge waiting for call to board. 3 Class 777 less premium seating more Eco so should get everyone there. Looks like it will be a busy flight.