BA captain went above & beyond

[slfool]

Anyone who was flying from LHR yesterday will know what utter chaos it was. I was a passenger on the much-delayed LHR-MAN BA1398 which eventually got to MAN at 12:11am on Sunday. The way the captain kept us all informed before leaving LHR was exemplary - before leaving LHR he totally defused what could have become a very tense situation involving no-shows delaying the flight even further, no tug crew being available and some passengers wanting to leave the flight and delay it even further as a consequence. We were sat on the stand for an additional 1:30 after boarding before we got under way. It's a long time since I've seen a captain come into the cabin to address the PAX directly.

When we eventually got to MAN T3 the bags didn't appear on the carousel and there were no staff from either BA or the handling agent there. When the crew came through baggage reclaim about 45 mins after landing the captain saw we were all still there, sent the crew on ahead to the hotel while him and the FO stayed with the passengers. He phoned up multiple people trying to get the bags off the plane - there were simply no handlers available to unload the bags, seemingly it was a surprise that we'd turned up :eek:. He eventually got agreement from BA management that people could leave and get their bags back via the lost baggage process - just as the bags finally began to be unloaded, 2 hours after the flight landed. He and the FO were still there at 2AM when I left, talking to passengers and trying their best to handle the situation. One passenger had a pop at him and was promptly told to shut up by other passengers - "He's the only one who has tried to help us".

BA's handling of yesterday's weather situation was frankly shambolic both in LHR and MAN, However the way the captain handled the situation was astonishing. I'd like to commend him to his management but all I can find on BA's website is a fairly generic customer feedback form - what he did deserves more than just some bland feedback form. If anyone from BA management is in here, or if anyone knows how to contact them directly I'd appreciate if you could PM the details.

Thanks!

[albatross]

Well done that Captain!

[Herod]

I'll second albatross. It's heartening to know there are still people like that in the profession.

[Preemo]

Good to hear and well done to him

[Lantern10]

Hear Hear.

[Bergerie1]

slfool,

A long time ago I was a Chief Pilot in BA. Just write a letter to the Chief Pilot of the aircraft type you were on, quoting the date and flight number, and address it via BA's main address and it will reach the man responsible. It is good to hear that some still maintain the standards of care we all aspired to in the old days.

[seafire6b]

This excellent Captain was not only in command of his "ship", but afterwards also assumed command and took control at destination too. Employees like that made BA what it used to be!

Well done that man, a credit to yourself and to what was once "the world's favourite airline".

[bgbazz]

Well done Sir...a job done properly is something to be proud of.
Only seen that sort of thing done twice before...a Qantas captain who busted his arse to get me and my wife home to Perth from Bangkok, via Hong Kong, when we were told that my Mother was very ill at home....the aircraft had no spare seats on either sector, so we flew in the 'office', all the way. Sadly, we weren't in time but I've never forgotten him and how he bent the rules for us.

The other time was a lady BA pilot from LHR to Sofia, Bulgaria, who planted the Airbus rather firmly on a very wet runway, in ****ty conditions, but took the time to make an announcement, explaining why...she then stood at the top of the steps as passengers were deplaning and spoke again...that's what real pilots are made of!!

[TURIN]

I tried to send you a PM slfool but you have the option switched off.

It was chaotic last night.

[racedo]

Leaders lead
Managers manage

[slfool]

I tried to send you a PM slfool but you have the option switched off

As I registered just to post this story I don't think I have enough brownie points to get PMs, and the confirmation link mentioned in the FAQ doesn't actually seem to work. I've added you to my contacts to see if that helps and I've dropped a line to the mods as well - thanks!

[slfool]

Just write a letter to the Chief Pilot of the aircraft type you were on, quoting the date and flight number, and address it via BA's main address and it will reach the man responsible

Thanks, will do. The captain was an absolute star, seeing him and the FO stood on the (empty!) baggage carousel addressing the assembled PAX was quite something :ok:

[slfool]

Only seen that sort of thing done twice before...

I've been a BA passenger from the days when it was called BOAC and the backbone of the fleet was the VC10 and I've never seen anything like it. When I said "astonishing" I meant it wholeheartedly.

[Una Due Tfc]

Well done that man. People like that are invaluable to a company. I sincerely hope he gets the recognition he deserves from his employer. There will be people on that flight who may otherwise have avoided BA in future if not for his actions.

[Arfur Dent]

IT makes you wonder who was responsible for deserting the passengers in such a way. There should be no way baggage handlers should all disappear knowing that an aircraft full of passengers is en route.
Very well done to the Captain but somebody should be called to account for this situation.

[blind pew]

Nice to see some of the old school left.
Flew out of LCY last Monday evening...crew with bags walked straight past me and the rest of the pax at the boarding gate without saying anything...ten mins later gate staff said there was a technical problem ...advise time etd + three hours.
Hope the skipper reads this....disgrace
(Cityjet to dub)

[Thinkthrice]

To Listen to the above posts, this sort of behaviour should be the 'ordinary' rather than 'extra-ordinary'.

In disruptive situations ALL crew and ground handlers are paid to deal with these situations. BA is well known to have very poor service, especially at LHR, in taking responsibility for their cancellations let alone 'service recovery' afterwards.

People like 'Willy Wonka' at head of BA (IAG) couldn't care a hoot about pax issues. Fact.

On the best day, even if flights are on time with BA at LHR, only about 50-60% at best luggage is delivered to the connecting flight with hours of connecting time. At peak times, this is much worse, just ask BA via freedom of info to divulge what their actual statistics are. I can already guess the response.

BA (as part of the virtual IAG group) generally could not give a 'rats ass' about individual passengers or crew members; rather they just want to minimise exposure to additional costs.

Yes, great that perhaps one employee seems to have taken action to 'smooth' this situation. This should happen every day as BA have a very poor customer service rating. Just ask any true frequent flyer. Eastbound from the UK, for example, I would never dream of flying on BA in any class. So many other airlines are in a different strata of service. Westbound from the UK there are limited choices as unanimously the US carriers are atrocious. BA is only slightly better even on a good day.

The true frequent flyers know the facts and we vote with our feet. It should be a daily occurrence when flight-deck and cabin-crew intervene at all levels to help with disruptions.....that is a normal day's work! Very few days sadly with most BA operations at LHR result in a great value and outcome for their passengers, even if the weather is fine etc., De Facto. Ask the regulars....:ugh:

[slfool]

IT makes you wonder who was responsible for deserting the passengers in such a way. There should be no way baggage handlers should all disappear knowing that an aircraft full of passengers is en route.
Very well done to the Captain but somebody should be called to account for this situation.

The captain eventually managed to get an answer to that for us. There were multiple delayed flights landing around that time and there were insufficient baggage handling teams on duty to cope with them, so there was a queue of unloaded planes. I don't know who does BA's handling at Manchester but it was hopeless last night, and there were no BA ground staff present either. Some random ground staff who were passing through tried to get the terminal manager to come down, nobody had appeared by the time I left at 2AM. So it's not just BA who were sadly lacking last night, Manchester Airport that screwed up badly as well. But that's no surprise, the reputation of the airport is bad and my one past attempt at a complaining didn't even get a response. Lots of people will drive to Liverpool rather than fly out of Manchester, it's a pretty awful experience most of the time.

[IcePack]

I would like to point out that some airlines have a policy of not allowing the Crew to communicate with the passengers except in general terms. E.g sorry but the aircraft is delayed for operational reasons.
This has come about due to EU261 compensation. For instance you can not tell them you have a flat tire.
But you have much more leeway with weather delays.
Nice to hear the Captain spoke to the pax directly. I always found it helped but I also found telling the truth helped too. Unfortunately the company lawyers don't.

[slfool]

Nice to hear the Captain spoke to the pax directly. I always found it helped but I also found telling the truth helped too. Unfortunately the company lawyers don't.

I am certain he prevented a planeload of claims and saved BA a wodge of money. We all knew that the majority of domestic flights had been cancelled and we were lucky to be on a flight, however delayed. Some people wanted to disembark when we were further delayed after boarding. He came into the cabin and explained that while people were free to get off, it would delay the flight even further, that the weather on Sunday was going to be the same, flights were already being cancelled and that anyone who got off would be lucky to get a flight on Sunday because of the backlog. Nobody got off, nobody within my earshot even grumbled - the atmosphere in the plane was quite remarkable. He said if people were patient he'd do his utmost to get them to Manchester. He did. Everyone understood the delays at LHR and the screwup at MAN were not his fault. Even after being abandoned for two hours in baggage reclaim in MAN people were *still* calm and patient. I simply can't get across just how unbelievable the atmosphere was, and that entirely down to him.

[TURIN]

Rhinitis.
[QUOTE]Ign disruptive situations ALL crew and ground handlers are paid to deal with these situations/QUOTE]

I think you will find that the groundhandlers are on minimum wage, in some cases zero hours contracts and flat rate overtime. Hence Swissport industrial action next week.

In this case it was Menzies who had multiple inbound aircraft. Minimum staff and the BA flight was one of many on a long list.

BA has a handful of office staff at MAN and a dozen or so engineers. A very different animal to the old BOAC/BEA days I'm afraid.

[S.o.S.]

Hello slfool and welcome to the cabin of PPRuNe.

Yes, it is correct that new joiners have to wait a while to get 'PM' access. However, your thread was in the right place and will be much appreciated by the flight and cabin crew who visit here.

Please stay on to share the experience and atmosphere (and the regulars need not tell me what the 'atmosphere' contains as I already know ... :=)

[ExXB]

Leaders lead
Managers manage, poorly

There, fixed that.

[DaveReidUK]

Yes, if only all the managers were leaders instead.

Oh, hang on ...

[G-INGS]

I don't know if great BA flight crew is like the proverbial bus, or if the season of good will has broken out, but pax on BA296 had a very similar experience last week.

During a 4 hour delay back from Chicago Thursday evening, the Captain, FO and CSM came into the lions den (BA lounge) and explained the problem; mechanics were trying to fix it in freezing conditions; it wasn't possible to predict how long it would take; we had a few hours of time left; and, no, there weren't any other flights. Oh, and if it couldn't be fixed tonight it would be a 24 hour delay and snow was coming. Yikes!
They then bravely hung around to answer all the inevitable questions. The impact was instant and amazing - atmosphere went from anger & frustration to 'Dunkirk spirit'.

This may sound odd, but this incident reminded me why I originally chose BA as my preferred carrier all those years ago - amazing flight crew.

[Ancient Observer]

I thought it was mandatory for an airline to have a "Station Manager" at each airport that it operates from.
Is my knowledge wrong or out of date?

[zed3]

G-INGS... the troops seem to be the real managers. When are the fake, so-called managers (charlatans) really going to be challenged and ejected... it seems to be everywhere these days.

[draglift]

The Captain of the MAN flight has been made aware of slfool's post and is appreciative.

[Charley B]

Excellent!

[Background Noise]

Good effort. It just shows that it doesn't take much effort to make a bad experience more bearable. We had a delayed BA flight recently which was alleviated to a great extent by the continual updates, and explanations, from the captain.

That said that, I have found it better in the US. We had a Jet Blue delay, for some engineering snag, and they brought snacks out to the gate while we waited. They started to board and then decided to change aircraft. We hadn't even arrived at the other gate when we all got text messages apologising and offering a discount voucher off the next booking - unfortunately not much use to us foreigners.

but all I can find on BA's website is a fairly generic customer feedback form - what he did deserves more than just some bland feedback form.

There is a 'say thank you to somebody' form on the BA website by the way: https://www.britishairways.com/travel/webforms/public/en_gb?eId=120001&wfpId=customer_compliments

[RAT 5]

Excellent behaviour and just as it should be. There is definitely a 'bit of old school values' in this. I wonder, but am sceptical, if this aspect of 'leadership' is even discussed on modern 3000hr youngsters command courses.

As an aside, I am disappointed at captains who only make any non-normal PA's from their hidden den, over PA's that are sometimes inaudible; and so-called senior cabin crew or pursers, or whatever they are called, making pax announcements hiding away in the galley. There is one national airline I fly with, and it is very noticeable to be company policy and very effective in being respectful, that the purser stands 'on stage' and announces to the pax face to face.
The crew-pax relationship is a PR exercise. That seems to have been lost by many policy makers and so-called managers. Some have worked in only one airline and have no idea of true standards shown elsewhere.

Well done Mr. BA captain. The flag of chivalry still flies in some forgotten corner that is forever............

[Hotel Tango]

As an aside, I am disappointed at captains who only make any non-normal PA's from their hidden den, over PA's that are sometimes inaudible

Indeed. Or even standard PAs which are inaudible!

[slfool]

The Captain of the MAN flight has been made aware of slfool's post and is appreciative.
Thanks, I'll send a letter as well :-)