BA CC LGW/PRN (Kosovo) PLEASE READ

[snchater]

I recently travelled LGW/PRN by BA. The passengers were predominantly Kosovan families with small children. The flight was held for an hour on the ground at LGW, making the children fractious. This made securing the cabin for takeoff and landing difficult. However, this does not excuse the disgraceful attitude displayed by the CC. I was embarrassed by their rude behaviour towards the passengers, who displayed restraint and fortitude.

I hoped that this was an isolated incident but my daughter flew the route 2 days later and experienced the same appalling behaviour by the CC.

I have a Kosovan son-in-law and I know Kosovans to be proud, friendly and unassuming. They have a great respect for the British.

In future please treat all customers with equal respect.

[Smell the Coffee]

snchater

If you feel the crew behaved in an inappropriate way towards passengers then it is probably a good idea to write to the company's appropriate department.

Although many, many BA crew read this forum there is not much that they (or anyone else) can do - you must make & direct your complaint through the proper channels.

Despit being BA crew myself, I personally can't comment on what you observed.

[Litebulbs]

Pam Ann.............Say no more!

Its the 1% that give her material. Still, I bet more than a few crew members are a little on edge flying to an ex war torn state?

[apaddyinuk]

Litebulbs.... Silly reasoning, when you think about it most of our network is to a former war torn nation of some sort. In fact I can think of places we currently fly to which are still iffy and we always perform excellently!

[Litebulbs]

OK, fair point. Must just be rubbish then!

[snchater]

Thanks for your considered responses.
I did not identify the actual flight details as BA are already investigating my concern.
I wished to raise awarness on this forum as, having discussed my experience with families in Kosovo, I believe mine was not an isolated occurence.
I have previously found BA CC to be most helpful and professional.

[Matt101]

I am really shocked at this actually. A lot of our fligths go out to that part of the world TIA, SJJ aswell as to your destination. I have never heard crew moan particularly about them (in fact quite a few like SJJ as loads are low!) before unless they are at the end of a long block or night flight but then it could just as well be a Naples. However if they moan about it I've never actualy seen in it rub off on the service given by my collegues.

This is no excuse however and I do hope that BA reply to you with a decent answer and outcome.

I hope that your future flights with BA are not so horrible!

[moops]

I am not here to defend any BA cc but as a cabin crew member I have to take their side.
I have flown a lot. Long/short haul. I perfectly know that each flight is different.
Destinations, crew members, length of flight and our mood: every time we have to perform our best service.
But what really define a flight are, off course, the passengers.
We can not hide that different destination have different type of passengers.
Sometimes they are nice and polite, sometimes not.
Sometimes they are understanding and easy to cope with, sometimes not.
As a cabin crew I can describe myself like a very customer care oriented person, patient, caring about passenger. My behaviour is always very polite, but at the same time I am very firm on onboard safety.
With certain type of passengers things are very easy. For them origin, cultural background and comprehension about how to behave in an aircraft the flight go ahead smoothly.
I have to say that some times, on certain flight, with certain type of passenger I ‘m the first that become rather rude.
With rude, bumptious, deaf when we are talking passengers speaking with them gently is completely useless.
I know that this is not “politically correct” but if the only way to make them understanding the in-flight safety rules and to make them respect the crew is to speak in a strong way, I’ll do that.
So please, do not always blame crew because they are rude. Try to have an overall view.
Try think how difficult and frustrating is doing our job in certain situation.
Try, for one time, to put blame and shame to those passengers that makes a flight a nightmare and makes our day a dad day.

Thank you.

[Glamgirl]

I've flown on this route many, many times. Sometimes it's a wonderful flight, but sometimes, it's a complete nightmare. I've been slapped in the face by a 5 year old child - with the mother laughing about it. I've had go-arounds due to passengers refusing to strap their children into their seats. I've had loads of pax clicking their fingers/whistling/tutting/shouting at me. Some pax have had climbing competitions over seatbacks. Some trying to drink their own alcohol and smoking (both in cabin and toilet). Some stealing from fellow pax and my crew.

HOWEVER... Whenever I check in for one of these flights, it's a clean slate. I would never be rude or assume that all pax on this route are prone to do any of the above. Neither do I assume that all pax are Kosovan or Albanian (neither did I say about nationalities in above examples).

I do get strict though. Safety comes before everything else. If I have to talk to a pax in a serious and strict manner to get them to strap in for take off/landing/turbulence, then so be it. If the passenger in question doesn't understand me, I ask someone nearby to translate. I've learned a couple of Albanian words, which comes in handy at times.

I hope you get a result that satisfies you in regards to your complaint. There is never a good reason for bad service, but there may be a reason to not be "fluffy" and "sweet as pie" in regards to safety.

If you can be more specific as to what exactly happened, I may be able to shed some light on it, pm me if you need. I'm not making excuses for the crew, just explaining some things that happen on this route (and many other routes for that matter).

For the record, I've met some wonderful people on this route who've invited me for a holiday to their homes in PRN, offered to teach me the language and in general bringing a smile to my face. To those people, I thank you, you made my day!

Gg