Cheeky or perfectly reasonable?
Sep 13, 2018, 6:28 pm
#1
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Cheeky or perfectly reasonable?
Just had a 2.5hour ish delay on a LHR to GLA flight. Just in the door. Pretty horrific really at that time of night.
Crew were fine etc etc. But they came round the ET cabin trying to sell the BoB stuff. After a grim 2.5 hour delay...
Would you not think a bit of digression would be appropriate, maybe offer a gratis small snack or cup of tea in such an incident? I know the defenders will come in and say "BA is not entitled to give you anything, you should be lucky you got a seat at all" etc etc. But I was on a similarly delayed RYA flight from Barcelona to Prestwick last year and they handed out free snickers to all the pax as way of a small apology. And that's RYA!!
Just thought they could have done a bit better that's all. Free cup. Of tea or Mars bar wouldn't have killed would it. Seeing as how most pax weren't going to get to see their family that night because of the delay.
Crew were fine etc etc. But they came round the ET cabin trying to sell the BoB stuff. After a grim 2.5 hour delay...
Would you not think a bit of digression would be appropriate, maybe offer a gratis small snack or cup of tea in such an incident? I know the defenders will come in and say "BA is not entitled to give you anything, you should be lucky you got a seat at all" etc etc. But I was on a similarly delayed RYA flight from Barcelona to Prestwick last year and they handed out free snickers to all the pax as way of a small apology. And that's RYA!!
Just thought they could have done a bit better that's all. Free cup. Of tea or Mars bar wouldn't have killed would it. Seeing as how most pax weren't going to get to see their family that night because of the delay.
Sep 13, 2018, 6:36 pm
#2
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I thought that right of care actually kicks in after 2 hours, so yes, I would think that if they did not get round to provide any drinks etc at the airport, then they should provide all passengers with at least a free drink on board.
Sep 13, 2018, 6:38 pm
#3
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Doesn’t duty of care under EC261 kick-in after 2 hours? With hindsight you could have bought some and then submitted the bill to BA...
(I await a learned person arriving to explain why I’m wrong...)
(I await a learned person arriving to explain why I’m wrong...)
Sep 13, 2018, 6:41 pm
#4
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Just had a 2.5hour ish delay on a LHR to GLA flight. Just in the door. Pretty horrific really at that time of night.
Crew were fine etc etc. But they came round the ET cabin trying to sell the BoB stuff. After a grim 2.5 hour delay...
Would you not think a bit of digression would be appropriate, maybe offer a gratis small snack or cup of tea in such an incident? I know the defenders will come in and say "BA is not entitled to give you anything, you should be lucky you got a seat at all" etc etc. But I was on a similarly delayed RYA flight from Barcelona to Prestwick last year and they handed out free snickers to all the pax as way of a small apology. And that's RYA!!
Just thought they could have done a bit better that's all. Free cup. Of tea or Mars bar wouldn't have killed would it. Seeing as how most pax weren't going to get to see their family that night because of the delay.
Crew were fine etc etc. But they came round the ET cabin trying to sell the BoB stuff. After a grim 2.5 hour delay...
Would you not think a bit of digression would be appropriate, maybe offer a gratis small snack or cup of tea in such an incident? I know the defenders will come in and say "BA is not entitled to give you anything, you should be lucky you got a seat at all" etc etc. But I was on a similarly delayed RYA flight from Barcelona to Prestwick last year and they handed out free snickers to all the pax as way of a small apology. And that's RYA!!
Just thought they could have done a bit better that's all. Free cup. Of tea or Mars bar wouldn't have killed would it. Seeing as how most pax weren't going to get to see their family that night because of the delay.
I'm sure there's a willingness to be thoughtful and kind, or even a calculating element of brand consciousness. But there's likely a snarl up in terms of who has the initiative and discretionary power to authorise such a generous act without risking a slap.
There's probably additional concerns about levels of stock: I imagine flights are nowhere near equipped for 100% take-up of BOB. Handing out a Twix to the first few takers wouldn't be a sensible way to go. Though I guess a raffle for the half dozen M&S sandwiches might have entertainment value.
Sep 13, 2018, 6:42 pm
#5
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To be clear. We weren't waiting on board for 2.5hr before getting going. We boarded a plane. Then we're told. It was broken, deboarded and waited 2.5hr for its replacement to come along. I fed myself in the lounge but just found it a bit cheeky they didn't offer a gratis something or other on board. The delay was the difference between people getting home in time to see children and not.
Sep 13, 2018, 6:44 pm
#6
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there is an exemption from providing duty of care if doing so would further delay the flight.
but i cant see that giving pax a free cuppa once in the air would be affected by that exemption.
but i cant see that giving pax a free cuppa once in the air would be affected by that exemption.
Sep 13, 2018, 6:49 pm
#7
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Do you know if the passengers who, unlike you, did not have lounge access were offered a F&B voucher during that period? This is the default way of providing duty of care, so if that was done, then no, I don't think BA had to also offer comped stuff onboard on that occasion (I mean I am against BoB in general and think they should provide something free on all occasions but I do not think that the delay makes a difference if the duty of care was already respected in the terminal).
Sep 13, 2018, 11:09 pm
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Do you know if the passengers who, unlike you, did not have lounge access were offered a F&B voucher during that period? This is the default way of providing duty of care, so if that was done, then no, I don't think BA had to also offer comped stuff onboard on that occasion (I mean I am against BoB in general and think they should provide something free on all occasions but I do not think that the delay makes a difference if the duty of care was already respected in the terminal).
Last week I was on a delayed ZRH-LHR-XXX trip and the ZRH-LHR leg was badly delayed (over 2 hours). There was one announcement in the local gate area to collect a food voucher for which about 40 people jumped up and queued to collect. It took about 30secs per person and the voucher was for CHF12. A few at the back appeared to give up waiting and wandered off.
On arrival at Heathrow those who had missed connections were given a ticket folder including a new boarding pass, an apology letter and a voucher for GB10 except anyone who had collected a voucher in ZRH, in which case no GB voucher was included (this is based on a group of three of us travelling together).
Sep 13, 2018, 11:51 pm
#9
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To be clear. We weren't waiting on board for 2.5hr before getting going. We boarded a plane. Then we're told. It was broken, deboarded and waited 2.5hr for its replacement to come along. I fed myself in the lounge but just found it a bit cheeky they didn't offer a gratis something or other on board. The delay was the difference between people getting home in time to see children and not.
As you were fed and watered in the lounge I'm not sure what the issue here really is apart from being delayed?
Last edited by simons1; Sep 14, 2018 at 12:13 am
Sep 14, 2018, 12:05 am
#10
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I believe one of the issues is that BA don’t ‘own’ the BoB stock. It is an odd deal that the stock always remains the property of M&S. I’m not sure if that’s different from FR who a previous poster says gave out a free item? I know that as part of the crew training, they were specifically told they couldn’t give away any items from BoB.
I do feel your pain though. A very unpleasant delay at such a late hour.
I do feel your pain though. A very unpleasant delay at such a late hour.
Sep 14, 2018, 12:29 am
#11
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I'm fairly sure not every pax on board had lounge access.
Sep 14, 2018, 12:35 am
#12
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I believe the Captain does have some level of discretion and can ask the crew to distribute the BoB. Problem is there is not enough for everyone to get something.
Having been in an aircraft in the last couple of months where the Captain did choose to do this, he announced it would be elderly and children served first, then women, then men.
We were sat on board, off stand, for around 3 hours. The food was distributed after around two hours.
BA status was not taken into consideration by our Captain when determining priorities.
Having been in an aircraft in the last couple of months where the Captain did choose to do this, he announced it would be elderly and children served first, then women, then men.
We were sat on board, off stand, for around 3 hours. The food was distributed after around two hours.
BA status was not taken into consideration by our Captain when determining priorities.
Sep 14, 2018, 1:13 am
#13
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Sep 14, 2018, 1:35 am
#15
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I have mentioned this before that if delayed by more than 2 hours I know that BA does refund BoB purchases. Not that it has a choice in the matter. Just keep it reasonable, photo the receipt and items, and perhaps pay with Avios so that repayment can be swift. There probably isn't the stock to give everyone the same item, but if there is a mix of requests for tea, coffee, chocolate etc. then I would hope that most people would get something. There is nothing in EC261 which stops you from claiming alcohol.
And yes if the delay was while sitting in a lounge then that would probably be deemed to meet EC261.
And yes if the delay was while sitting in a lounge then that would probably be deemed to meet EC261.