British Airways not responsible for Stairs to plane?
Jul 31, 2018, 3:34 pm
#1
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 37
British Airways not responsible for Stairs to plane?
On a recent flight to LHR the ground crew crashed the jetty and left us stranded on the aircraft for over an hour while the Safety Crew did their thing, a second thought was getting a set of stairs for us. Since the jetty is near the front of the aircraft they put the stairs on the aft door and since we were in first we were the last off the aircraft. I let BA know my displeasure with the situation and their response was not our issue so sorry. Any ideas of where we may take this issue, the response we received actually annoys me more and I want to push the issue further. I did not contract the ground crew so they do not owe me anything, my contract is with BA and they are to get me on the aircraft through the air and off the aircraft.
Jul 31, 2018, 3:38 pm
#3
Original Poster
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 37
The doors opened some 60 minutes after landing and stopping at the terminal. Seat belt light was off and we were lined up when the crash of jetty 1 and jetty 2 happened.
An apology would have helped originally but the sheer arrogance has frustrated me, I have tried to ask for a supervisor to review but got no where.
An apology would have helped originally but the sheer arrogance has frustrated me, I have tried to ask for a supervisor to review but got no where.
Jul 31, 2018, 4:36 pm
#5
Join Date: Mar 2016
Location: London
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BAA operate Heathrow so certainly not BA’s fault and they have nothing to apologise for or pay you compensation. However a man of your import having to disembark an hour late and then only after the second and third class passengers is clearly a vile breach of your most basic human rights and you need to take your case to the European Cuort of Human Rights whilst you still can. Perhaps the forum could award you a DYKWIA award to provide you with some comfort.
Jul 31, 2018, 4:43 pm
#6
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BAA hasn’t existed for several years now. HAL operate Heathrow.
Jul 31, 2018, 4:44 pm
#7
Join Date: Feb 2010
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BAA operate Heathrow so certainly not BA’s fault and they have nothing to apologise for or pay you compensation. However a man of your import having to disembark an hour late and then only after the second and third class passengers is clearly a vile breach of your most basic human rights and you need to take your case to the European Cuort of Human Rights whilst you still can. Perhaps the forum could award you a DYKWIA award to provide you with some comfort.
ETA - and Genius1 did indeed get in first! ^
Jul 31, 2018, 4:45 pm
#8
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Jul 31, 2018, 5:36 pm
#9
Join Date: Jul 2008
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Airstairs, or a stair truck are provided by the ground handler, whoever that may be. The fact this is LHR puzzles me a bit that BA wasn't responsible for it, but if you were at a spoke station I would totally get it.
As a ground handler this stuff happens sometimes. I have to get 2 pilots onto an Embraer 175. My company has no stairs, we don't need to have them. I rented/borrowed stairs from a company I used to work for, those stairs are for 737 and up (I guess) but they wouldn't get low enough. In the end I told the pilots they'd have to board the plane via belt loader, and they did.
I'm not sure I understand what you meant by the crew "crashed the jetty". Do you mean the bridge agent crashed the bridge into the aircraft?
I'm also confused cuz it seems they told you that it wasn't their issue. Well it depends on who you talked to. If you asked a ramp guy like me why the bridge crashed into the plane I'd say something like "sorry, I don't know I don't have anything to do with it". If you ask a bridge agent where the ramp stairs are, they'd tell you the same thing, because they often aren't interchangeable jobs.
In the end it sounds like you had a little bad luck and are a bit sour about it. I'd just forget it.
As a ground handler this stuff happens sometimes. I have to get 2 pilots onto an Embraer 175. My company has no stairs, we don't need to have them. I rented/borrowed stairs from a company I used to work for, those stairs are for 737 and up (I guess) but they wouldn't get low enough. In the end I told the pilots they'd have to board the plane via belt loader, and they did.
I'm not sure I understand what you meant by the crew "crashed the jetty". Do you mean the bridge agent crashed the bridge into the aircraft?
I'm also confused cuz it seems they told you that it wasn't their issue. Well it depends on who you talked to. If you asked a ramp guy like me why the bridge crashed into the plane I'd say something like "sorry, I don't know I don't have anything to do with it". If you ask a bridge agent where the ramp stairs are, they'd tell you the same thing, because they often aren't interchangeable jobs.
In the end it sounds like you had a little bad luck and are a bit sour about it. I'd just forget it.
Jul 31, 2018, 5:42 pm
#11
Join Date: Aug 2013
Posts: 8,762
BA is also liable under the Convention for operations in the course of embarking or disembarking the aircraft, which (generally) includes the boarding stairs. Not that it matters much here as it seems OPs complaint is merely frustration.
Jul 31, 2018, 9:54 pm
#13
Join Date: May 2013
Posts: 6,349
BAA operate Heathrow so certainly not BA’s fault and they have nothing to apologise for or pay you compensation. However a man of your import having to disembark an hour late and then only after the second and third class passengers is clearly a vile breach of your most basic human rights and you need to take your case to the European Cuort of Human Rights whilst you still can. Perhaps the forum could award you a DYKWIA award to provide you with some comfort.
Some schoolboy howlers here.....BAA hasn't existed for a decade, and BA do their own ground handling at Heathrow.
In this case it is unfortunate that disembarking from the back meant the OP left last but by the sounds of it the OP is irritated by the 'pass the buck' approach of BA, well known to people in these parts. As such a decent 'vent' in the circumstances.
Jul 31, 2018, 11:10 pm
#14
Join Date: Feb 2008
Programs: BA (GGL/CCR)
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I'm not sure the issue here concerns the technicalities of BA's contractual responsibility to passengers when there are deficiencies in the ground handling operations at Heathrow; it's what possible claim OP would have for £££ for breach of contract in this case.
OK so disembarkation took a while. At what point is 'a while' a breach of contract in this context? OK so OP expected what amounts to priority disembarkation but got the opposite, but isn't that just one of those imaginary benefits - something that might be expected or anticipated but not something baked into the contract so that non-delivery gives rise to a legal claim.
i can't see OP being due any cash, any more than I would expect BA to compensate someone whose short-haul flight parked at a C gate, thereby delaying exit from Heathrow by a few minutes. An apology might have been nice, but given it wasn't forthcoming I wouldn't advise OP to waste any more thought or effort on this one. S/he has had a therapeutic rant here, if that is any help.
OK so disembarkation took a while. At what point is 'a while' a breach of contract in this context? OK so OP expected what amounts to priority disembarkation but got the opposite, but isn't that just one of those imaginary benefits - something that might be expected or anticipated but not something baked into the contract so that non-delivery gives rise to a legal claim.
i can't see OP being due any cash, any more than I would expect BA to compensate someone whose short-haul flight parked at a C gate, thereby delaying exit from Heathrow by a few minutes. An apology might have been nice, but given it wasn't forthcoming I wouldn't advise OP to waste any more thought or effort on this one. S/he has had a therapeutic rant here, if that is any help.
Jul 31, 2018, 11:41 pm
#15
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If the plane was already very late arriving, and the further hour pushed it over the limit, then these would not be extraordinary circumstances and the OP would be entitled to EC261 delay compensation. It certainly doesn’t sound like that’s the case here.
I’ve not had a delay of that length, but up to something approaching half that when no airbridge operating crew appeared on arrival at the gate - which was on top of an already substantial delay out of BUD thanks to slack ground handling ops in removing a bag from the hold which took far longer than it should have. I was, in the end, about 90 minutes late by the time I left the plane.
It actually caused me (well, ultimately my company as luckily I happened to be travelling on business) real, cold hard cash because the delay meant I missed the last train connection to home and had to take a taxi for the last 30 miles from the then nearest station.
I didn’t bother to complain - whilst annoying, I thought it frivolous at best. The OP has had a relatively short overall delay, exacerbated by an apparently fairly shoddy BA response. I really can’t see anything there that would personally cause me to start making demands about escalation or further action, so it goes to show we’re all wired a little bit differently in spite of our common interest of travel!
I’ve not had a delay of that length, but up to something approaching half that when no airbridge operating crew appeared on arrival at the gate - which was on top of an already substantial delay out of BUD thanks to slack ground handling ops in removing a bag from the hold which took far longer than it should have. I was, in the end, about 90 minutes late by the time I left the plane.
It actually caused me (well, ultimately my company as luckily I happened to be travelling on business) real, cold hard cash because the delay meant I missed the last train connection to home and had to take a taxi for the last 30 miles from the then nearest station.
I didn’t bother to complain - whilst annoying, I thought it frivolous at best. The OP has had a relatively short overall delay, exacerbated by an apparently fairly shoddy BA response. I really can’t see anything there that would personally cause me to start making demands about escalation or further action, so it goes to show we’re all wired a little bit differently in spite of our common interest of travel!
Last edited by NWIFlyer; Jul 31, 2018 at 11:48 pm