To the kindhearted, caring, & courteous gentleman seated in 1A today.....
Jul 1, 2016, 3:01 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Feb 2013
Location: PHX
Programs: AA EXP, IHG Diamond, IC Amb
Posts: 5,510
To the kindhearted, caring, & courteous gentleman seated in 1A today.....
o...k, I lied....you are an a**hole.
Seat 1A on my LHR-ARN flight BA 782, you are an idiot. I was right behind you in 2A and wanted to smack you in your stupid head for being so effing mean to the FA's.
After boarding the male FA kindly asks him to put away his "device" for takeoff. 1A proceeds to argue with the FA telling him it will not fit in the pocket and he doesn't have to put it away because it is an "iPad." Male FA sees he is going to lose this battle and walks away.
Female FA comes over and kindly tells him he needs to stow it just for takeoff. He refuses and says "It's an iPad. I don't have to stow it as long as it is on Airplane Mode." She proceeds to tell him that he needs to stow it. She is kind and smiling and playing the friendly card instead of being stern.
He huffs and puffs but finally does something with it (I didn't care enough at this point to even look up front to see).
Fast forward to landing. The male FA again tells him he needs to stow it for landing. 1A steadfastly refuses and says "It's an IPAD! I DON'T HAVE TO STOW IT."
Female comes over once again....he argues and argues and argues and she is apologetic saying that it is her job to enforce the rules so that the cabin remains safe in case of emergency, etc. He finally yells "I am going to file a HUGE complaint on this crap. You will see!!!!"
I finally look.....and it is NOT a normal small iPad......omfg its a HUGE iPad Pro WITH A KEYBOARD ATTACHED THAT RESEMBLES THE SAME FOOTPRINT AS A LAPTOP....(which would obviously need to be stored for landing/takeoff.)
God, this world is full of stupid people....
Seat 1A on my LHR-ARN flight BA 782, you are an idiot. I was right behind you in 2A and wanted to smack you in your stupid head for being so effing mean to the FA's.
After boarding the male FA kindly asks him to put away his "device" for takeoff. 1A proceeds to argue with the FA telling him it will not fit in the pocket and he doesn't have to put it away because it is an "iPad." Male FA sees he is going to lose this battle and walks away.
Female FA comes over and kindly tells him he needs to stow it just for takeoff. He refuses and says "It's an iPad. I don't have to stow it as long as it is on Airplane Mode." She proceeds to tell him that he needs to stow it. She is kind and smiling and playing the friendly card instead of being stern.
He huffs and puffs but finally does something with it (I didn't care enough at this point to even look up front to see).
Fast forward to landing. The male FA again tells him he needs to stow it for landing. 1A steadfastly refuses and says "It's an IPAD! I DON'T HAVE TO STOW IT."
Female comes over once again....he argues and argues and argues and she is apologetic saying that it is her job to enforce the rules so that the cabin remains safe in case of emergency, etc. He finally yells "I am going to file a HUGE complaint on this crap. You will see!!!!"
I finally look.....and it is NOT a normal small iPad......omfg its a HUGE iPad Pro WITH A KEYBOARD ATTACHED THAT RESEMBLES THE SAME FOOTPRINT AS A LAPTOP....(which would obviously need to be stored for landing/takeoff.)
God, this world is full of stupid people....
Jul 1, 2016, 3:20 pm
#4
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 433
Why are you all having a go at him. Not his fault that the FA doesn't recognise an iPad with a keyboard attached. Doesn't make it a laptop no matter what size it is. BA lifted restrictions on phones and tablets as long as it was in flight mode.
There is no size limit for tablets.
Would have been just as annoyed as him.
There is no size limit for tablets.
Would have been just as annoyed as him.
Jul 1, 2016, 3:29 pm
#6
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: North of Carlisle
Programs: BAEC Silver
Posts: 1,538
Great thread title and first line ^
That's what I love about this forum, always a difference of opinion no matter what the subject matter is. Whether it's an iPad, iPad Pro or laptop, if the FA says it has to go then it has to go - simple !
That's what I love about this forum, always a difference of opinion no matter what the subject matter is. Whether it's an iPad, iPad Pro or laptop, if the FA says it has to go then it has to go - simple !
Jul 1, 2016, 3:32 pm
#7
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
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Why are you all having a go at him. Not his fault that the FA doesn't recognise an iPad with a keyboard attached. Doesn't make it a laptop no matter what size it is. BA lifted restrictions on phones and tablets as long as it was in flight mode.
There is no size limit for tablets.
Would have been just as annoyed as him.
There is no size limit for tablets.
Would have been just as annoyed as him.
Aside from anything else, if a FA tells you do something, you do it and complain later - you most certainly do not disturb or endanger the rest of the cabin.
I think I'd also have had severe difficulty in biting my tongue if someone behaved as abominably as this description suggests - a pity, in fact, that he didn't get threatened with arrest which might have made him think a bit more next time.
Jul 1, 2016, 3:36 pm
#8
Join Date: Jun 2004
Posts: 433
Jul 1, 2016, 3:40 pm
#9
Join Date: Mar 2014
Location: BOS/MAN
Programs: BAEC Gold
Posts: 168
This! Complying with crew instructions is definitely a rule, regardless of anything else.
Jul 1, 2016, 3:50 pm
#10
Community Director
Join Date: Jan 2009
Location: Norwich, UK
Programs: A3*G, BA Gold, BD Gold (in memoriam), IHG Diamond Ambassador
Posts: 8,476
I think common sense might suggest that's the reason though! Clearly having heavy objects flying around the cabin because they're not tightly secured really isn't conducive to flight safety ...
Jul 1, 2016, 3:54 pm
#12
Join Date: Jul 2013
Location: scotland/EDI
Programs: BAEC , M&M , VIRGIN FC , FLYING BLUE
Posts: 1,438
the gentleman in question it would appear refused to obey the instructions of the crew
I always understood that to do this was breaking international aviation law ???????
he was in the wrong end of
I always understood that to do this was breaking international aviation law ???????
he was in the wrong end of
Jul 1, 2016, 4:27 pm
#13
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South East, UK
Programs: BA Gold / GfL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,432
The rules are explained on BA.com. In essence:
"handheld devices with flight safe mode" must be secured in your hand or in a pocket during taxi, takeoff and landing.
"laptops, ultrabooks and notebooks" must be stowed for taxi, takeoff and landing
I can see why the crew would require a large tablet with attached keyboard to be stowed (certainly bigger than many ultrabooks). Especially if the person in question was not holding it!
As others have pointed out, the crew have to make a judgement call. I think they made the right one. Clearly the passenger concerned didn't agree. The crew should have just brought him a complaint form (not sure if they still exist!) and handed it to him during his rant.
Jul 1, 2016, 4:48 pm
#15
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: South East, UK
Programs: BA Gold / GfL, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 2,432
From the description provided it sounds to me like he explained the situation to his female (potentially senior) colleague and asked her to intervene. My guess would be that he had probably sussed that the guy was going to be more confrontational to another guy than he would be to a woman. It seemed to work for takeoff, at least.