IAN-UK

.. and having a shovel handy doesn't mean you have to keep digging

Seriously, I think we've got your point. But the wider issue is BA's attitude to the provision of service to PRM. The idea that accepting Heathrow as the sole provider means the airline must give up any attempt to look after the well-being of its passengers just seems, well, whacky.

Deniedboardinghelp

fransknorge

On British Airways they are not expected to do this. I do remember one crew member here explaining they are forbidden by their employer, maybe CIHY could confirm.

LTN Phobia

If I remember correctly, they do help people with disabilities but they not supposed to help those who do not have any disabilities as they are not insured for this particular situation.

Thinking about it, how many people can confidently say they will safely lift a 23 kg bag into the overhead locker without the risk of hurting themselves or others? Bearing in mind that the risk of injury is not limited to themselves but to others should they drop a bag etc, so I can't blame them for not wanting their crew members to get involved unless there is an exceptional circumstance such as disabilities (that includes injuries).

People do need to travel with what they can manage themselves and the rules are made pretty clear for hand luggage on BA.

tom tulpe

More smokescreens . We're talking hand luggage here, not checked bags. There's a weight limit, and no matter how lax an airline is at enforceing that limit, most bags brought on as hand luggage - even more so if brought on by a PRM - will not weigh 23 kgs.

Globaliser

Which, as you probably know, is 23 kg on BA.

Takiteasy

DrBernardo

Just as an aside, on BA I tend to find this is fleet-related. The older fleets (worldwide and eurofleet) - possibly owing to many years of company and union training/guidance - tend not to help non-disabled pax citing the (lack of) insurance. Mixed fleet (again, just in my personal experience) WILL tend to help, which may or may not have something to do with the amount of training the company gives now...

LTN Phobia

Absolutely no smokescreen here.

BA's hand luggage weight limit is 23 kg as you must surely be aware if you are engaging in a discussion about BA hand luggage procedures, and therefore there is a risk, if BA permits cabin crew members to lift it for passengers into the overhead lockers, that they would be (indirectly) required to lift up to 23 kg, which is too much for a lot of people to be able to do without risking injuries to themselves or others.

Therefore, there are health and safety issues here that BA must observe towards their workers.

Besides, the OP would be exempt from the requirement to have to be able to lift it oneself and cabin crew members would help anyway. The requirement to be able to lift it ourselves applies to those who are capable of reaching the overhead lockers.

IAN-UK

I regularly see crew assisting passengers with baggage. Passengers with difficulty stowing bags get help. I see crew shifting baggage around the overhead lockers, taking down bags, placing them elsewhere, to make room. I see all this on BA as well as other carriers including LCC.

Whether or not they are supposed to handle baggage, I think many crew members see it as part of their job: sorting out the cabin and getting it ready for departure quickly and efficiently.

Those who don't want to do it are certainly protected by rules: and if they wish to stick by the rules, I understand these apply to the bags of those injured, or otherwise disabled.

I've no doubt crew might baulk at lifting 23kg overhead, but then so would I. But I bags of that weight are probably exceptions rather rules.

Globaliser

That's true, but a 23 kg bag on a BA aircraft would not be due to lax enforcement of the airline's weight limit, as tom tulpe appeared to think.

NickB

Indeed and, as far as I know, all BA services have more than one flight attendant on board so it would presumably always be open to a flight attendant to ask a colleague for assistance should a bag be on the heavy side for a single person.

mikeyfly

But during boarding they have specific places to stand and not take two of them to assist a passenger with a bag

NickB

BA crew will correct me if I am wrong but I would find it surprising if the fact that they are allocated to certain position during boarding meant that they cannot under any circumstance whatsoever move from their allocated position to temporarily assist another colleague.

LTN Phobia

Voluntarily doing things is one thing. Creating (including indirectly) an obligation is another.

It's one thing if the cabin baggage limit is 7 kg like it is on some airlines, but it is quite another when the limit is as much as 23 kg and if the airline created an (even unwritten/unspoken) expectation that cabin crew members will help if one brings on board a bag that is too heavy to lift in the absence of any disability or other issues that would prevent you from handling your own bag.

Hence the clear requirement that you must be able to lift your bags into the overhead locker by yourself which seems sensible.

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb...age-allowances

Cabin crew members by and large are helpful people by nature and they do tend to help but it wouldn't be a good idea for us to rely on their goodwill or other passengers' to stow our luggage given the clear requirements, and I would be pleased that crew members would have a 'get out clause without any blame' to not have to lift heavy bags for most passengers, especially with those with helpful nature potentially putting themselves at risk by wanting to help.

(Obviously those who cannot do so due to disability would be helped one way or another and so they should, although admittedly I think it would be sensible to make it as light as reasonably possible, as most people would.)