BA offloads couple at Portuguese military base over business class row [LGW-KIN]
Apr 27, 2017, 5:55 am
#46
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This must have gone on for a while before reaching this stage, with many cabin crew involved.
Apr 27, 2017, 5:55 am
#47
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Shows how poor the BA press office is that they haven't even given an off the record briefing to journalists about this - the story is now basically becoming about how their crew are being heavy-handed with a cancer sufferer and making him defecate in his seat, rather than someone who (presumably?) posed a serious risk to flight safety and that BA puts safety above everything else.
Apr 27, 2017, 5:55 am
#48
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Apr 27, 2017, 5:57 am
#49
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Fellow passenger Joy Stoney, a businesswoman from Yorkshire, was thrown off the flight alongside the retired Jamaican man and abandoned on the Portuguese island of Terceira after trying to help him.
Ms Stoney, who was wrongly reported as being Mr Bantu's partner, told MailOnline how stewards told him to 'defecate in his seat' when he told them he needed the toilet.
Ms Stoney, who was wrongly reported as being Mr Bantu's partner, told MailOnline how stewards told him to 'defecate in his seat' when he told them he needed the toilet.
Something still doesn't add up. If Mr Kwame was just peacefully "walking around" for him it is an overreaction to be trussed up like a turkey. So I wonder what really went on.
Chucking Ms Stoney off seems harsh, if she was genuinely just a bystander. And again, makes me think overreaction. But BA cabin crew don't tend to overreact.
Apr 27, 2017, 6:02 am
#50
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Assume this flight then took a night stop at LGW? A shame that BA couldn't be a little bit more creative (as they had been previously) as positioned a crew out to somewhere in Europe (LIS?) and get plane/crew to meet there to go on ..
I'm not sure how it would work timing wise, but that seems (to an outsider) as a more sensible option ... no doubt someone will tell me why that can't be done.
I'm not sure how it would work timing wise, but that seems (to an outsider) as a more sensible option ... no doubt someone will tell me why that can't be done.
Trying to make a determination of what happened and who did what to whom and why, on the basis of a Daily Mail article seems to me to be a schoolboy error.
Apr 27, 2017, 6:15 am
#51
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By the way guys, just went to www.dailymail.co.uk, and this story is their first article.
That means it will be seen by millions of people.
So this is very big news.
That means it will be seen by millions of people.
So this is very big news.
Apr 27, 2017, 6:17 am
#52
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As Waterhorse said, one should not take the DM even remotely at its word, although I am intrigued why the DM seem to have it in for BA even more than many FT-ers do.
The references to "cancer" and "diabetes" obviously lend a certain effect as does embellishing the article with words like "ambushed" etc.
That doesn't mean that the crew didn't overreact or that they handled it appropriately, but I would reserve judgment until further info comes out- the DM is something of an irrelevance on that front, though unfortunately for BA it's sufficiently well read in the UK and beyond for this to be another dollop of very bad publicity.
The references to "cancer" and "diabetes" obviously lend a certain effect as does embellishing the article with words like "ambushed" etc.
That doesn't mean that the crew didn't overreact or that they handled it appropriately, but I would reserve judgment until further info comes out- the DM is something of an irrelevance on that front, though unfortunately for BA it's sufficiently well read in the UK and beyond for this to be another dollop of very bad publicity.
Apr 27, 2017, 6:18 am
#53
Join Date: Jun 2012
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As Waterhorse said, one should not take the DM even remotely at its word, although I am intrigued why the DM seem to have it in for BA even more than many FT-ers do.
The references to "cancer" and "diabetes" obviously lend a certain effect as does embellishing the article with words like "ambushed" etc.
That doesn't mean that the crew didn't overreact or that they handled it appropriately, but I would reserve judgment until further info comes out- the DM is something of an irrelevance on that front, though unfortunately for BA it's sufficiently well read in the UK and beyond for this to be another dollop of very bad publicity.
The references to "cancer" and "diabetes" obviously lend a certain effect as does embellishing the article with words like "ambushed" etc.
That doesn't mean that the crew didn't overreact or that they handled it appropriately, but I would reserve judgment until further info comes out- the DM is something of an irrelevance on that front, though unfortunately for BA it's sufficiently well read in the UK and beyond for this to be another dollop of very bad publicity.
Apr 27, 2017, 6:20 am
#54
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In the interests of accuracy, the DM didn't say 'cancer', it said 'CANCER' 
Anything to bump up the hype, without any effort to get the other side of the story, of course. As noted up-thread, BA's PR seem very slow in putting their side.
Anything to bump up the hype, without any effort to get the other side of the story, of course. As noted up-thread, BA's PR seem very slow in putting their side.
Apr 27, 2017, 6:21 am
#55
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And how long was the aircraft in the Azores for it to push the crew out of hours?
Apr 27, 2017, 6:23 am
#56
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BA needs to move to Defcon One very quickly on this issue.
I can't comment on the rights and wrongs of the particular situation, but with the United Airlines stories fresh in media minds this story could escalate into a huge deal very very quickly. I hope the BA press office or their PR Advisers are up to it.
I can't comment on the rights and wrongs of the particular situation, but with the United Airlines stories fresh in media minds this story could escalate into a huge deal very very quickly. I hope the BA press office or their PR Advisers are up to it.
Apr 27, 2017, 6:39 am
#60
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I'm surprised, and a little disappointed, that we don't have at least one FT member who was on the plane to report in with their version of events. All sounds very bizarre but a brave and bold move by the Captain. Well done him/her! I feel for the rest of the passengers though.
Sounds like he probably behaved a bit strangely and said something unfortunate, and they went into full defense mode. It's a shame that flying has become like this. Again, I feel the European carriers are not quite the same in this respect. But as others have mentioned, there's a lot more detail here than we know.