Gatwick_CC

Let me tell you that every single day our cabin crew are challenging customers and every single day we get pushback. But I assure you, we are doing our best.

It is not the cabin crews fault. Is it the fault of the passengers who think they’re above the law and don’t have the mental capacity to think of others. Please spare a thought just for a second, for the cabin crew who are having their own mental health challenged every day as they try to police masks.

What I don’t understand is why ( not the OP) so many pax have to ask the crew to ask someone elseto put their mask on. Why can’t just they just ask them themselves!


‘Edited to say that my last paragraph was a flippant comment. You can all be sure that I will continue to ensure compliance of Passenger PPE on my flights.... ‘

BOH

Seriously? It is because a member of the CC is seen to be far more in authority (and of course a safety role) than a fellow passenger asking someone to do this. It is also far less confrontational for exactly this reason.

81romeo

Frankly? No sympathy - cabin crew have always "policed" seat belts, recliners, emergency exits etc. before takeoff so I find it really hard to believe masks can't be enforced in the same way.

Passengers refusing to wear a face mask or to properly wear it covering mouth AND nose (unless they are "exempt" even without having to prove it) should be warned twice max and then offloaded.

Once, I do agree with the US carriers approach on this.

LTN Phobia

If I may offer an explanation from my perspective, the reason for that is fear of creating more issues for crew members by asking them myself, whatever that may be.

Many passengers would react angrily more readily to a fellow passenger than someone with an official position on the aircraft like a cabin crew member (or so is the perception and observation of this particular bystander who has probably flown as a passenger more than it's healthy). They can't say "who the hell are you to tell me what to do" (well they do... but logically, they shouldn't) when asked by a crew member on duty with power of enforcement.

Sometimes, a general PA from the captain reminding them of the requirement to wear a mask might help too.

I think, to make everyone's life easier, including that of crew members, though, there should be an official, enforceable penalty (fines by the British government, for instance) on failure to comply with the request to wear a mask unless they are formally exempted in writing. I don't know if there is such a penalty that is enforceable on a BA flight though?

I thankfully have not been in a position to have to ask anyone to wear a mask - in fact I haven't even had a passenger within sight of me on board as all the flights I took since Covid have been really quiet, except for one domestic flight in Australia with no mask wearing requirement.

BOH

Totally 100% agree. It should be treated by CC no differently to the seatbelts being checked, the ensuring no items on the floor in the Exit rows, seats being upright for takeoff etc etc. Offload the idiots that refuse - once word gets around that an airline will enforce this AND offload non-compliant pax I am sure that miraculously compliance will happen.

Can I ask the CC on here what the policy is if a pax refuses to wear a seatbelt or insists on keeping their personal items on the floor when seated in an exit row? Is it negotiable?

13901

The policy is different. Self-quoting:

BOH

Well yes, I understand it IS different, my point really is it shouldn't be......the proper wearing of a mask in this day and age in proximity to others IS a safety issue affecting ALL on board.

1. The reason all pax have to wear a seatbelt is both for personal safety and of others around you. Because you would turn into a projectile in the event of a rapid stop and potentially injure other passengers.
2. The reason the exit row floor has to be kept clear of objects is so as not to hinder the safety (escape) of other passengers in an evacuation
3. So if we extrapolate this to masks.....same applies. The wearing of masks during Covid is an issue that affects the safety of all pax on board.

I guess the wearing of a seatbelt when requested and Exit row pax keeping the floor free during takeoff and landing is not negotiable? It absolutely should be properly policed by CC...for the safety of ALL passengers.

ClubflyerLondon

Having spent a lot of time in the Gulf primarily on business in DOH/BAH im not surprised that sort of behavior from a minority of that demographic . In London i live a stones throw from Harrods and the amount of individuals from that demographic who willingly flouted the mask mandate in store in the run up to Christmas even after being asked in the interests of balance i did see plenty of Brits ignore it too. I should note on my LCA-LHR flight in early December the crew did enforce the mask requirement

HarryHolden68

I thought the captain had ultimately authority and that passengers refusing lawful instructions from crew can result in sanctions, including being offloaded with costs. At this time, you would be hard pushed to find a magistrate or judge to agree that multiple members of the same party are all exempt from wearing a mask and were not just being selfish. BA really need to state a firm policy and empower their staff to enforce it.

I know BA are finding passengers hard to come by, but are the crew / captain now to operate with their hands tied for fear of upsetting the few passengers they have? Or were these more important passengers than most and the senior crew member knew this?

13901

I am not a lawyer but I believe that there is a difference in terms of law. Mask and what you're referring to, as far as I understand it, aren't on the same 'level' of importance.

CirrusDesAigles

When I flew with Easyjet in September (my only trip during the pandemic), the Captain gave it the full beans over the PA before take off twice (saying you must keep it on for eating and drinking and just remove briefly for sip/bite) and made a thinly veiled threat he'd divert if anyone didn't obey. It still didn't stop a couple of chin warmers but on the whole, it did the job. It unfortunately needs drilling into people very aggressively when they board to get near 100% compliance and even then you'll get the odd chancer.

BOH

I guess no one will know until it is tested as to whether BA has acted responsibly and with due care etc etc.

Interestingly though if we just look at probabilities of the three safety related issues I happened to mention.

1. Chances of an aircraft having to rapidly stop where an unbelted pax turns into a projectile and injures themselves or others? Very, very low.
2. Chances of an emergency evacuation occurring requiring the exit row floors to be completely clear and passengers being hindered? Very, very low.
3. Chances of a pax(s) being infected with Covid at the moment in an enclosed space in very close proximity to many strangers? Errrr, very, very high I would suggest.

So put this way, BA (and most UK airlines) are focusing on rigidly applying rules for events with an infinitesimally small probability of happening and not enforcing a newer, much more current safety threat on board with a very much higher probability of happening!

I wonder what the courts would make of that if there was an infection of pax on board that can be traced to have come from another infected passenger who had refused to wear a mask and action not taken by BA?

Brisbane Road

As someone that has spent time on both sides of the Atlantic due to dual nationality, I’ve certainly noticed a real difference in both mask wearing and ‘exemptions’, and wondered if others have experienced the same?

1- We seem to be far more lax about it here in the UK that goes for both onboard BA flights and also on the ground. Now I’m mostly comparing to the East coast as that’s where I’ve been primarily in the last 6 months but I’ve noticed a real difference. From what I’ve seen, there is far less compliance and the crew seem less fussed about it on BA flights versus those I’ve had on US domestic flights. US airlines seem very strict about sticking to protocol. I hardly noticed one non masked individual, crew or passenger, let alone someone not wearing one correctly.

Whereas I flew back to the UK a few weeks ago from the US on BA, got up to go to the loo and the crew in the galley were chatting to each other without masks, quickly sticking them on as I came through the curtain. In NYC, 90% plus people are mask wearing on the street, in London I would take a guess it is somewhere around 25%. Again, not to say one is right or one is wrong, but that is my observation.

2- We seem to be very caught up about ‘exemptions’ here in the UK. That is certainly not a dismissal of those people with genuine reasons but from what I can understand through family and friends over the other side of the pond, the mask ‘exemption’ is rather unheard of. People just have to wear them properly and that’s that. I fear over here we haven’t nearly the same attitude and there is a rather dangerous momentum behind people just remarking ‘I’m exempt’ (when really they aren’t) and that’s that.

Different strokes for different folks and all that but it was interesting to compare.

hydro001

The current policy at BA does not allow for offloading if it's a non compliance of offloading, unless it became disruptive. The crew members approach was indeed to textbook policy. Many crew members feel the current policy is too relaxed and ineffective and want US style approach. However, any offence would be recorded via an incident form which may affect the offender's future travel.

13901

I don't disagree with you and, as I said, I'm not a lawyer. However on the same token, supermarkets aren't preventing customers from entering without a mask which makes me believe that the rule is not as strict as 'wear your seatbelt' (be it a car seat or an airplane seat). Personally I wish it were but it doesn't seem to.