irishguy28

I don't understand this scenario (It's an "if, if and if" scenario that from the off sounds highly improbable and doesn't in any way require sighting of the manifest), and I can't imagine any other scenarios where a glimpse of the manifest can cause a problem.

If the information on the manifest was so open to abuse and likely to incite unwanted behaviour/lead to illegal activities, I wonder why so many people openly display much the same information (about themselves at any rate), on their boarding passes, throughout airports, departure gates, while queuing to board and take their seats, and finally while seated. Most people do not shield them and apparently do not consider the information printed thereon private or sensitive, whether rightly or wrongly.

Short Final

Alright then ... if you consider it a non-issue, how about you post your real name and your BAEC membership number right here together with a list of PNRs for all your future flight bookings so the whole world of people you don't know, have never met and don't necessarily trust can go see what seat you're sitting in, your meal preference etc. ?

Oh, what's that, you don't want to do that ? There's a surprise !

It was a serious breach of the DPA, there is no way anybody here can justify it otherwise, no matter what how silly the excuses they try to employ. The cabin crew member was completely and utterly in the wrong.

Tobias-UK

Well, it was certainly a breach of the DPA but hardly a 'serious' breach. The cabin crew should not have shown the PIL to a passenger. Surely that's all that is needed to be said?

Mountain = Molehill?

Short Final

You pick at my scenario, I'll pick at yours.

That's one great big assumption you make there.

I , and many others I have observed at airports shield or otherwise put away their boarding passes.

Plus as I'm sure you well know, seeing one or two boarding passes is somewhat different to the entire passenger manifest.

Plus its unlikely you'll be able to read much off a boarding pass at a distance, you can read substantially more off a manifest you are much closer too, and even more off a manifest you have been physically handed by an idiot of a crew member !

The cabin crew member's actions were unjustifiable, please stop trying to defend him/her.

Short Final

The act of the cabin crew handing/showing the PIL to a passenger was a serious breach. It is impossible to see how it could be otherwise.

If I went to your bank and your bank manager handed me your account statement just because I asked him and without seeking your permission... you would consider it a serious breach of confidentiality. The same applies to the passenger manifest.

The PIL is a confidential document, the property of BA and which they have a clear legal obligation under the DPA to protect against review and use by unauthorised individuals.

irishguy28

And the potential outcome of this breach is negligible, so please stop trying to make out otherwise.

Tobias-UK

Perhaps in your world

matthandy

That really isn't the same thing is it? Publishing something on the Internet is completely different to one person getting a quick look at the PIL. I'm sure that you realise that.

Short Final

Sure it is the same thing... afterall, you could look at the PIL and publish what you saw on the internet - or even a snap of it taken with a smartphone.

Its a serious issue.

muscat

Getting on the plane this morning, the crew looked at my boarding card and said "Welcome back, Mr Muscat"
Should he have whispered it in my ear to avoid others hearing my name ?

matthandy

Could publish, but the OP didn't, so no, not the same thing as you suggested to angatol at all.

Short Final

I wasn't talking about the OP. I was talking in general, and in particular I was talking about the indefensible actions of the cabin crew member who handed the OP the PIL in the first place.

Had the cabin crew member done the right thing and refused, then this thread would have never occurred in the first place !

matthandy

Well not really, since you asked a specific question of angatol you weren't talking in general. It was specifically aimed at one particular person. But anyway.....

I think that everyone agrees that the crew member should not have shown the PIL to the OP. However, you clearly view the scale of that breach as different to others, which is fine. Is there anything more to be said?

Behindthecurtain

I am not sure why CIV is so important, some staff know it, some don't. It just seems to be a gauge of how self important someone feels about themselves on here. I have G, I get G benefits. I don't quite make GGL. Yeah I would like the Joker and the GUF2's, but being able to type, I have a CIV of X does not seem to affect my flying in any way at all Each to their own

mario

For the cc "to refuse" implies that I asked in the first place to see the PIL. At no point I asked to see the PIL. At no point I expected to see it. It was simply handed over to me.

What was I supposed to do then? Act all OCD and say, "oh, you see, I'm a FTer and as such I should know better and I'm not supposed to look at this". Really?

I wanted to check my CIV and my companion's CIV. I did that. I also had a glance at how many status card holders were on the flight for about five seconds. I handed it back, had a laugh about the whole thing and finished my G&T.

No harm done. Nobody was hurt. Common sense prevailed.