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Discrimination (Coronavirus?) on British Airways

Discrimination (Coronavirus?) on British Airways

Old Feb 25, 2020, 11:22 pm
  #46  
 
Join Date: Apr 2019
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Originally Posted by mctaste
why assume racism and not something less sinister? delaying your boarding protects no one from coronavirus, so that is illogical to assume as the reason.
OP probably subscribes to the idea that the explanation to every scenario must be due to discrimination.

When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
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Old Feb 26, 2020, 12:21 am
  #47  
 
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Not being there and not having access to BA staff present to ask them, we can only hypothesise, but perhaps-

Delay/Cancellation caused flight to be overbooked.
Operational decision taken whilst on airport control literally minutes before boarding means last row of CE downgraded to Y to accommodate 2 additional pax (4 to 6 in row).
OP and travelling companion queue in boarding group, gate staff aware that 2 people with Asian names were in last row and therefore (or ? by Fly or is it just for upgrades) they knew OP and travel companion has been downgraded, but also downgrade hasnt been actioned yet.
Gaye staff ask OP and companion to step aside to ensure boarding continues and already delayed departure isnt further delayed whilst the downgrade is sorted out behind the scenes.
New BP issued reflecting downgrade which allow OP and travel companion to claim compensation for the downgrade.

For sure Im not saying that is what happened, as I say I wasnt there, but Id suggest we can not say any discrimination has occurred.
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Old Feb 26, 2020, 12:38 am
  #48  
 
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Originally Posted by BRITINJAPAN4
You know this is NOT racism, its treating different people differently based on a probability of risk, its called profiling, adding on to a good dose of Noth American ignorance of course. Not sure why AC would check non AC passengers BPs ? Was the laughing an attempt to lighten the atmosphere or was it demeaning ?

Too many people too fast to jump on the "isms" bandwagon. In case no one noticed, this virus is a serious issue
Do I detect a smidge of anti North Americanism there???
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Old Feb 26, 2020, 1:43 am
  #49  
 
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Originally Posted by BRITINJAPAN4
Good to see we keep expanding the English language with new words , even if we have enough already !
Ive always wanted the opperchancity to use that word 😎
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Old Feb 26, 2020, 2:05 am
  #50  
 
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BA could solve this perceived problem at a stroke by only ever downgrading white people (and perhaps only men).
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Old Feb 26, 2020, 3:16 am
  #51  
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The OP's problems are probably just a consequence of Dnata (BA's ground handler in GVA) being junk and having poorly trained staff (this applies to all the airlines they handle in GVA).
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Old Feb 26, 2020, 12:32 pm
  #52  
 
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Originally Posted by orange1
Would have been great to get a clear explanation like the one above. Unfortunately we checked online and at the airport and had checked baggage. Any clarification would have gone a long way. Unfortunately we got none other than we needed to wait after everyone else was on and we weren't in the system. Mind you, this was even before checking/scanning our tickets.
Originally Posted by orange1
Once boarding started, we were told to step aside and not block the way of other passengers as our business class row would be downgraded to economy.....
Looks like we probably don't have the full story....
To OP, they certainly checked your ticket or else how would they tell you about the downgrade, and you mentioned you just stepped aside, and no mention of seat reassignment, did BA inform you prior to boarding?
Just pure guessing, since you are not in business class any more, you can't board along with group 1 or 2. you have to wait for your boarding group, and you have no group, you have to wait till last ?
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Old Feb 26, 2020, 10:48 pm
  #53  
 
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Originally Posted by HilFly
Do I detect a smidge of anti North Americanism there???
Is there such a "thing " certainly not anti but that does not change the fact of a general lack of international awareness in some areas of the world, at least in my personal experience
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Old Feb 26, 2020, 10:50 pm
  #54  
 
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Originally Posted by Railbob
Ive always wanted the opperchancity to use that word 😎
Why use English when we can just take a simple word and add needless syllables !
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Old Feb 27, 2020, 9:12 am
  #55  
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Originally Posted by Fly2Where
Looks like we probably don't have the full story....
To OP, they certainly checked your ticket or else how would they tell you about the downgrade, and you mentioned you just stepped aside, and no mention of seat reassignment, did BA inform you prior to boarding?
Just pure guessing, since you are not in business class any more, you can't board along with group 1 or 2. you have to wait for your boarding group, and you have no group, you have to wait till last ?
To add more detail. I mentioned to the gate agent that I was part of the rows that were to be downgraded and he told me and my wife to stand to the side first (without providing any details and checking our tickets/names). Others who were also downgraded were also asked to stand to the side. However all the other downgraded passengers were allowed to boarded along with group 1 while we were still told to stand to the side. The gate agent only knew we were part of the affected 3-4 rows but didn't know our names and which row we were in. Mind you the row opposite to us that was also affected by the change in configuration was also allowed to board first. My wife and I were not allowed to board until the very end and was specifically called out to not try to board, unsure why we were singled out like that.

It would have been helpful to receive some kind of explanation and it's actually helpful to understand some of the reasons that are being shared on this thread. Unfortunately, we didn't get anything and I'm still puzzled why this happened.
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Old Feb 27, 2020, 10:40 am
  #56  
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Originally Posted by orange1
To add more detail. I mentioned to the gate agent that I was part of the rows that were to be downgraded and he told me and my wife to stand to the side first (without providing any details and checking our tickets/names). Others who were also downgraded were also asked to stand to the side. However all the other downgraded passengers were allowed to boarded along with group 1 while we were still told to stand to the side. The gate agent only knew we were part of the affected 3-4 rows but didn't know our names and which row we were in. Mind you the row opposite to us that was also affected by the change in configuration was also allowed to board first. My wife and I were not allowed to board until the very end and was specifically called out to not try to board, unsure why we were singled out like that.

It would have been helpful to receive some kind of explanation and it's actually helpful to understand some of the reasons that are being shared on this thread. Unfortunately, we didn't get anything and I'm still puzzled why this happened.

Agree, its very bizarre and low end behavior on the part of the ground staff. I can see why you would wonder about discrimination. There are numerous reputable studies about how people who are non white get treated differently (everything from assumptions about intelligence on down). If anything it probably wasn't about the virus and sadly more so just the type of everyday discrimination of being an "other." Very sad if that was the case.
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Old Feb 27, 2020, 4:42 pm
  #57  
 
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Originally Posted by BRITINJAPAN4
Is there such a "thing " certainly not anti but that does not change the fact of a general lack of international awareness in some areas of the world, at least in my personal experience
Some individuals may lack "international awareness" but please don't write off an entire continent.
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Old Feb 27, 2020, 5:40 pm
  #58  
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Originally Posted by osirisSFN
OP probably subscribes to the idea that the explanation to every scenario must be due to discrimination.

When all you've got is a hammer, everything looks like a nail.
discrimination and racism based on ethnicity and/or culture is as old as time so please with the nonsense of "all you've got is a hammer..." bull___t
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Old Mar 1, 2020, 9:32 pm
  #59  
 
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Originally Posted by HilFly
Some individuals may lack "international awareness" but please don't write off an entire continent.
Of course its not the whole continent but in my personal experience its very, very widespread., A for instance, in my office of 25 people : Me, who wants to fly to the UK tonight, (15 people put their hands up, ) and who has a passport ?
I made the trip !
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Old Mar 12, 2020, 12:23 am
  #60  
 
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Originally Posted by Fly_IAD
discrimination and racism based on ethnicity and/or culture is as old as time so please with the nonsense of "all you've got is a hammer..." bull___t
Correct.

That wasn't what I said though, so try again.
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