As an 8-year-in-a-row Platinum, I usually laugh or at least smile at the postings here that express shock!! shock!! that CO staff would upgrade non-rev colleagues after the door is closed or with a boarding pass meant for an innocent teenager. We have all heard these stories and many of us have seen these kinds of incidents.

Imagine my wonder when over on the BA board I was assured that this simply doesn�t happen on British! No shenanigans on BA, they insist.

Can this be true? Several posters insisted, and no one dissented. Assuming it is true, is this just an indication that Willie is a better manager than Jeff (or Larry) or is it a matter of national culture, sort of like the difference between doing business in Singapore or in Nigeria?

While GA Shenanigans occasionally happen - they happen on most airlines. Fortunately on CO it is rare and CO management is serious about preserving the intregity of the upgrade system. GA can get in big trouble as well.

That said - if it does happen to you contact CO or PM CO Insider. CO has been good about making good and will likely give you confirmable upgrade. The pda upgrade status lets you see if you were upgraded.

Cova -- I know all that, and I am not complaining or asking for compensation. But if it is true that there are no shenanigans on British, how do CO staff get away with it? Compensation is not the question -- why / how does it happen in the first place. Or, put another way, what mechanisms does BA have in place to prevent it that CO does not?

I thought BA only performs op-ups and has no complimentary upgrade program like CO's UDU for Elites, so it's rather hard to compare, no?

flying non-rev with BA in the 1980s & 90s (father retired Capt) some staff tickets had J or F entitlement (yes - that was the terminology used ) and if there was no revenue pax booked, seat assignment would be in J or F ahead of FF upgrades and, frequently, op-ups - not shenanigans; just the way the staff-travel policy worked at the time

of course this info may be really out of date, but if correct seat assignment didn't happen at the gate or in T3 and T4 staff travel dungeon then the final word was with the CSD onboard after boarding - and that WAS shenanigans hell, let me tell you

Frequently junior stewardess #12's ID-90 boyfriend in F ahead of Capt on F-entitlement annual concession ticket.

then again, I think there is a measure of culture: British sense of fairplay - propensity to form orderly queues, etc.

My guess is that it happens on all airlines; It is not sanctioned by the company/administration but it happens on the ground. Humans tend to brake the rules to accomodate themselves or their situation. This is regardless of the rules of the institution.

Overall doing business in Singapore is less corrupt than Nigeria but I don't think it is a valid analogy when comparing CO and BA.
All in all, I think the system is fairly clean.

There is no market of BA upgrades. They pax simply don't know when they are taken advantage of, if I can use those words so glibly. CO and UA see upgrades as a benefit if not entitlement. Once upgrade rules are in place pax get grumpy if they are violated. No upgrade rules then no infraction.

Probably. CO doesn't care about this. If they did, the employees involved would be 1) fired and 2) frog marched through the airport and prosecuted under the RICO statute for their crimes. After doing that a few times, the rest of the GAs would get under control. I personally think that no employee should be allowed in F until this has been corrected. Because it is better that they never see F, even with empty seats, than one elite miss an upgrade because of shenanigans by employees.

CO employees view upgrades as a benefit. While they rarely get them domestically, they are pretty easy for them to get internationally. They can check the BF loads the day before and determine if they have a chance of getting BF.

So?

Actually -- what better way to get the employees to watch over a GA's shoulder. Any employee whether pilot, FA, working or non-rev travelling on a flight in which shenanigans occured should be banned from F/BF for life. Then they would help police the problem. With a bonus confirmed flight for any employee who turns in a GA with evidence that leads to a convictionof said GA. As it is now, the employees all have an incentive to "look out for their own" at the expense of paying customers.