FRA unable to provide water for 3 hour delay
Oct 29, 2018, 3:58 pm
#1
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FRA unable to provide water for 3 hour delay
BA913 was cancelled yesterday and the airport staff were unable or unwilling to provide anything to drink or eat.
They also banned people from leaving the gate area until they knew what was happening with the flight, which took over 2 hours..
Surely they (FRA / BA) can do better than this even if it means bringing drinks off the flight?
They also banned people from leaving the gate area until they knew what was happening with the flight, which took over 2 hours..
Surely they (FRA / BA) can do better than this even if it means bringing drinks off the flight?
Oct 29, 2018, 4:25 pm
#3
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Oct 29, 2018, 5:14 pm
#5
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Oct 29, 2018, 6:38 pm
#6
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Highly unlikely that BA is able to bring any food or drink off an aircraft. Also unlikely that BA has any say in who gets to leave the gate area.
What OP has not provided and would be helpful is the "why" of the delay. In many situations where the delay is fluid, a repair may be made, or an ATC window may open on short notice. Inconveniencing passengers is just a cost of avoiding a 3-hour delay when it might have been a 1-hour delay.
That said, no reason why BA could not arrange or why FRA itself does not have a facility to assure that a few cases of water and some crackers can't be delivered to a gate.
What OP has not provided and would be helpful is the "why" of the delay. In many situations where the delay is fluid, a repair may be made, or an ATC window may open on short notice. Inconveniencing passengers is just a cost of avoiding a 3-hour delay when it might have been a 1-hour delay.
That said, no reason why BA could not arrange or why FRA itself does not have a facility to assure that a few cases of water and some crackers can't be delivered to a gate.
Oct 29, 2018, 7:40 pm
#7
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I was on that flight.
We boarded the plane as normal around 7.50 pm for an 8.20 pm take off. Pre-flight checks revealed an electrical problem and we disembarked at around 8.40 for further power testing. By that time, cabin crew were already bringing refreshments up from the back, but didn’t make it as far as me in row 12. The flight was not empty but was fairly lightly loaded.
There were no refreshments at the gate and no real information until just after 10 pm, when we were informed of the possibility of using the night stopper to ferry us home. That was a good bit of lateral thinking but doomed from the start due to both crews being out of hours and the impending 11 pm curfew with the night stopper being slightly delayed. That is the point at which the flight should have been cancelled, and people were offered voluntary rebooking around that point, and free to leave the gate area if they did so. FRA security was of course long gone,
.
EU261, including duty of care, would not have kicked in then, so I elected to stay regardless of the chances of actually flying. Around 10.30 we were herded into the D7 bus gate and waited a further 10 min before the flight was cancelled. I called GGL and also booked the HGI of my own accord.
We boarded the plane as normal around 7.50 pm for an 8.20 pm take off. Pre-flight checks revealed an electrical problem and we disembarked at around 8.40 for further power testing. By that time, cabin crew were already bringing refreshments up from the back, but didn’t make it as far as me in row 12. The flight was not empty but was fairly lightly loaded.
There were no refreshments at the gate and no real information until just after 10 pm, when we were informed of the possibility of using the night stopper to ferry us home. That was a good bit of lateral thinking but doomed from the start due to both crews being out of hours and the impending 11 pm curfew with the night stopper being slightly delayed. That is the point at which the flight should have been cancelled, and people were offered voluntary rebooking around that point, and free to leave the gate area if they did so. FRA security was of course long gone,
.
EU261, including duty of care, would not have kicked in then, so I elected to stay regardless of the chances of actually flying. Around 10.30 we were herded into the D7 bus gate and waited a further 10 min before the flight was cancelled. I called GGL and also booked the HGI of my own accord.
Oct 30, 2018, 3:07 pm
#8
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@Cymro Thank you for giving more details on what happened.
I guess the GGL line is open 24/7? I tried calling the Silver line but it had closed at 8pm.
Is this because of the 5-hour rule? I have read the EU261 FAQ and can't see what fits in with this.
Regarding the curfew, I had a similar situation with Ryanair at NRN once and permission to breach the curfew was actually granted. I wonder how the German authorities make their decisions on this.
I guess the GGL line is open 24/7? I tried calling the Silver line but it had closed at 8pm.
That was a good bit of lateral thinking but doomed from the start due to both crews being out of hours and the impending 11 pm curfew with the night stopper being slightly delayed.
That is the point at which the flight should have been cancelled, and people were offered voluntary rebooking around that point, and free to leave the gate area if they did so. FRA security was of course long gone. EU261, including duty of care, would not have kicked in then
That is the point at which the flight should have been cancelled, and people were offered voluntary rebooking around that point, and free to leave the gate area if they did so. FRA security was of course long gone. EU261, including duty of care, would not have kicked in then
Regarding the curfew, I had a similar situation with Ryanair at NRN once and permission to breach the curfew was actually granted. I wonder how the German authorities make their decisions on this.
Last edited by Wanderlust888; Nov 1, 2018 at 3:48 pm Reason: off topic
Oct 30, 2018, 3:14 pm
#9
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We definitely did in Mumbai( a few years ago) . The crew, including the captain, came out with soft drinks. We had been stuck there for about 3 hours and it took some negotation to allow us back out to put up in a hotel for the night.
Oct 30, 2018, 3:33 pm
#10
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Article 9 (duty of care) states
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:
(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;
But Para 18 in the preamble states
1. Where reference is made to this Article, passengers shall be offered free of charge:
(a) meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time;
But Para 18 in the preamble states
Care for passengers awaiting an alternative or a delayed flight may be limited or declined if the provision of the care would itself cause further delay.
Which would also explain the reluctance to allow people to leave the gate area
Oct 30, 2018, 3:49 pm
#11
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Maybe it's something to do with the fact that all shops/cafes/refreshments are in the non-sterile area of the airport, so it would be not allowed for staff to bring any liquids to the gate.
Oct 30, 2018, 3:51 pm
#12
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The nighttime curfew at FRA is sometimes pushed back by one hour when there are a number of e.g. weather-related delays but it seems unlikely they will lift it for individual delays.