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BA crew (including Captain) not enforcing face mask rules

BA crew (including Captain) not enforcing face mask rules

Old Jan 5, 2021, 4:53 am
  #31  
 
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Originally Posted by 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?

..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..
Masks are not mandatory whilst walking along the street here in England. Masks should be worn in indoor public spaces.

As for the phrase “unless your exempt” that’s not worth the descent into! Any old excuse is enough it seems!
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 4:55 am
  #32  
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Originally Posted by hydro001
However, any offence would be recorded via an incident form which may affect the offender's future travel.
Fantastic! I would bet that after a few highly publicised incidents of someone or a family being offloaded by BA because of a refusal to wear and the problem would disappear overnight. The trouble is, people know there is no repercussion so many do as they please, knowing they will still fly. If it also meant they would be on a barred list in future too I guarantee 100% compliance would soon result.
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 5:14 am
  #33  
 
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The only option immediately open to the crew is to have the individual removed from the aircraft if they refuse to comply. Problematic if the aircraft is no longer on stand and/or the airbridge/stairs are gone. Unfortunately, it's probably not going to happen unless the circumstances deteriorate and the passenger becomes actively disruptive or aggressive.

I'd be comfortable with passengers being banned for refusing to wear one without good reason. However one imagines BA would like to avoid the negative publicity associated with getting it wrong and offloading/banning a passenger with a hidden disability.

Realistically I don't see what choice the crew have, unfortunately. Cancelling the return ticket might however also send a message.


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Last edited by Bohinjska Bistrica; Jan 5, 2021 at 6:39 am
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 5:20 am
  #34  
 
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
That said, I would have just offloaded myself. If you do that then the captain would have some explaining to do. There are very, very few things in life that can't wait 24 hours.
I never even knew this was an option before! I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that if I said "I don't feel safe, I want to get off" then I'd basically lose the flight and have no rights to rebook - is this incorrect?
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 5:26 am
  #35  
 
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Can someone who works for BA confirm why passengers who refuse to wear a BA-compliant face-covering are not banned from flying BA in the future?
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 5:36 am
  #36  
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Originally Posted by Lucanesque
I never even knew this was an option before! I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that if I said "I don't feel safe, I want to get off" then I'd basically lose the flight and have no rights to rebook - is this incorrect?
I guess in my case I wouldn't t have lost the right to rebook for free or to demand this from BA.
The reason why I would have offloaded myself would have been strictly linked to the Captain's refusal to enforce the law which resulted in lack of duty of care.
Also, I got threatened and potentially verbally abused in Arabic language.
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 5:37 am
  #37  
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Originally Posted by Lucanesque
I never even knew this was an option before! I assumed, perhaps wrongly, that if I said "I don't feel safe, I want to get off" then I'd basically lose the flight and have no rights to rebook - is this incorrect?
If you offloaded yourself politely and gently then BA would just rebook you. People who are denied travel due to excess alcohol generally get a free rebook if they are meek about it.

Originally Posted by destone
Can someone who works for BA confirm why passengers who refuse to wear a BA-compliant face-covering are not banned from flying BA in the future?
I don't work for BA, but from what we've been told, BA has written to "more than a few" passengers and told them they have become former customers for a period of time - usually 1 or 2 years. More serious cases may get 3 years plus but it's rare for BA to give lifetime bans even if someone is (moderately) assaulted.
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 5:41 am
  #38  
 
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
If you offloaded yourself politely and gently then BA would just rebook you. People who are denied travel due to excess alcohol generally get a free rebook if they are meek about it.
That's good to know, I'm not that much of a nervous flyer but the whole refusal to wear masks thing I draw a line on. Hopefully I will never fall foul of the alcohol related travel denial issue, but noted on the meekness too
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 5:54 am
  #39  
 
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sorry about what happened to you mate, even though I never report bad customer service, since it might directly affect someone's livelihood, in my line of work or even out in the wild, when someone breaks H&S protocols, I have a word with them, if they don't cop on, I talk to whomever is in-charge of them. Only right you report this to BA.
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 6:19 am
  #40  
 
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Questions:
a) Why is BA not offloading pax who refuse to wear a mask. I couldn't care less about the impact on the passengers health, but I would care deeply about my health and those of other pasengers. Wearing a mask does not protect you, it protects others. BA have a duty of care and a duty to ensure compliance with the law. A month of offloading non-complying pax and the message would hit home!
b) Why were the Police not called? Quoting from the government's website "The police can take measures if members of the public do not comply with this law without a valid exemption and transport operators can deny access to their public transport services if a passenger is not wearing a face covering, or direct them to wear one or leave a service."
https://www.gov.uk/government/public...f%20%C2%A36400
c) would it be reasonable for a passenger to call the police (if an aircraft is on the ground) if the crew/captain fail to take action?
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 6:20 am
  #41  
 
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Having been unable to fly BA since it stopped flying to YVR and now with AC...I can share that the attendants scrutinize passengers and their masks from boarding to arrival and have myself been "scolded" while snoozing when my mask slipped down my nose by a tap on the shoulder...all which I appreciate. Self entitled me only types deserve consequences....of some sort
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 6:23 am
  #42  
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The wearing of masks in public has been compulsory here for the last 9 months. In the hot weather we've been having I detest wearing a mask so I just avoid putting myself in situations where I have to wear one. Perhaps flying isn't such a good idea if you get so easily upset?
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 6:26 am
  #43  
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Originally Posted by DYKWIA
Wow - you don't half have some good stories from your travels with BA! A quick search of your posts brings back all sorts of escapades.
I do wish that he would post his itineraries here so that I can make sure that I am not aboard as he seems to attract the extraordinary. Unbalanced rappers and now people who refuse to wear masks!

Had this happened to me, I would have asked that the crew please enforce the existing policy. I would not have had the Captain off the flight deck at such a critical time in the flight, and indeed I am surprised that he came. As he was the last aboard they must have been very close to departure. Offloading yourself would have upped the ante - but then when you have taken such a stand; it does complicate matters when drinks come round. I think that I would have asked the person sitting next to me to please wear their mask until we had drinks in front of us - after which someone can, and I do not doubt does sit nursing a drink all the way to anywhere.

Were it really to bother me that much, I would have got off the aircraft - ultimately that is the only weapon in your armory is to get off the aircraft. Once that happens and you are involved with bags being removed and taking a delay, then you are in another realm and this really should be a very last resort.

That said, I am most surprised at the crew being so lackadaisical about implementing BA's own policy.
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 6:33 am
  #44  
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I cannot believe all the weakness that I am hearing about BA crews not enforcing the rules about wearing masks, if I had been the SCCM and a passenger that couldn’t prove that they were except would they either be offloaded or I would have offloaded myself!
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Old Jan 5, 2021, 6:35 am
  #45  
 
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Originally Posted by corporate-wage-slave
Yes, I did think "oh no, just what we need today".

In terms of de-escalation, I did really like the post that young KARFA put out in a slightly different context. While it's good to encourage people to do the right thing, and sometimes people genuinely have forgotten to get the mask in place, nevertheless this is ultimately about personal responsibility. You can allow yourself to get tied in knots about this but frankly it's bad for your soul. The best you can do is to lead by good example, safe in the sure and certain knowledge that you are on side of the angels.

That said, I would have just offloaded myself. If you do that then the captain would have some explaining to do. There are very, very few things in life that can't wait 24 hours.
As ever, the voice of reason!

Ultimately the cabin crew are not police officers. They can ask people, they could threaten, they could probably have called the police if still on stand. But then the flight would have been delayed and others would have become annoyed and possibly aggressive because they personally feel that mask wearing is a bit of a waste of time or whatever.

When people reach an aircraft even under the old normal they were often at Defcon 1 - lots of people are scared of flying and don’t admit it; lots more find the whole airport experience overwhelming, add covid into the mix and everyones’ baseline mental health anyway, and you can see a potential tinderbox. I’ve seen a discussion about a World Traveller special meal on the ground between a CSL and a customer escalate to the point where the police were called at the gate - and it created an atmosphere that was very weird for the entire flight.

Is using the full armoury of your powers really the right thing to do? Or do you risk escalating an already smouldering situation? The crew had to make a judgment call. The OP also swore and whilst that may be understandable, you sometimes just need to take a step back, think ‘is it worth it?’ and decide. Which the OP did. Don’t think it’s worth a complaint in the grand scheme of things - unlikely to achieve anything other than more frustration.
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