Originally Posted by
Asturias56
" In that case, the bag would be removed if you just disappeared. I've seen that done. "
Saw it on American at LHR - two passengers got on (business) he decided after 10 minutes that he wasn't traveling and got off - the Cabin Staff asked his Mrs was he likely to change his mind - she shrugged and said it was unlikely so they collared one of the ground staff and the bag was found (remarkably quickly ) and trundled away.
My experience wasn't so pleasant. Flying a TWA 747 from JFK to Heathrow - it was less than a year after Lockerbie... Someone checked a bag but didn't board the aircraft. Probably 15 minutes spent trying to make sure the passenger in question hadn't boarded - then over an
hour to find and remove their bag
. By the time we finally pushed back, not only had we missed our takeoff slot, but there was a huge que waiting to takeoff (not uncommon at JFK). We'd been in the TO que for over 30 minutes when they shutdown the departure runway due to severe thunderstorms
. So we sat - soon the pilots shutdown the engines to save fuel, and on a hot July day the APU wasn't up to the task of keeping the aircraft cool.
We finally took off almost seven hours late. When they came around with the meal service - by that time I was famished. The FA put the meal in front of me - and it looked disgusting - she said "honest, it was very appetizing 8 hours ago"
. She then asked me what I wanted to drink - I asked for a beer. She responded that "you don't want a beer" - ah, yes, I do! "No, you don't" - and so she grabbed a can of beer from the cart and put it against my cheek - it was warmer than I was
- "sorry, it was cold 8 hours ago...". I thought for a second, and asked for a red wine so she put a small bottle on my tray. She thought for a second, and put a second bottle on the tray. A minute or so later, as she was serving the next row, she put a third bottle of wine on my tray
. She obviously realized how horrible the whole experience was.
Last time I ever booked a flight on TWA...