BA 777 diversion

[OPENDOOR]

British Airways offloaded a couple from a London to Jamaica flight at a Portuguese air force base on Wednesday after a row broke out over their demands for an upgrade to business class, military officials said.

Overreaction?

BA offloads British couple at military base over business class row (http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/04/26/ba-offloads-british-couple-military-base-business-class-row/)

[Not Long Now]

Perhaps they stopped because the B777 had shrunk (according to the photo) and had less room?

[average-punter]

Fair enough - passengers were creating chaos and being totally out of line and disruptive. Several warnings would have been issued. They failed to comply so the Captain decided to divert the aircraft and offload them. Good decision and on I'm sure BA would back them on. Non event.

[foxmoth]

Non event? Well it must have been major disruption, I have diverted into Lajes before and they are NOT happy for you to land there, certainly when I did it we had to declare an emergency to get clearance.

[Basil]

British Airways kick couple off after they demand upgrade | Daily Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4450576/British-Airways-kick-couple-demand-upgrade.html)

Now looks like an 'entitlement' attempt which was rebuffed.

'I was just trying to get some room to stretch my leg,' he told MailOnline. 'But nobody was helping me. They refused to listen about my medical illness and what I was going through. I was treated like a slave.'

British Airways told MailOnline that Mr Bantu refused to move from business class and verbally abused crew, so they 'helped him walk back to his original seat'.

Our cabin crew and one of our pilots repeatedly asked a customer to return to his booked seat in economy after he sat in our business class cabin without permission.
'He repeatedly refused, verbally abused crew members and disturbed other customers.
'As a last resort, our cabin crew felt they had no option but to restrain the customer in the interests of the safety of everyone on board and helped him walk back to his original seat.

[wiggy]

Kwame Bantu, 65, was an hour into the 14-hour flight to visit family in Jamaica when he began to feel dizzy and saw his leg swelling.......

'I was just trying to get some room to stretch my leg,' he told MailOnline. 'But nobody was helping me. They refused to listen about my medical illness and what I was going through.


These are always tricky ones, leaving aside the use of the restraint kit ( and we don't know the full circumstances) certainly if Mr Bantu's medical condition was deteriorating as rapidly as he claims in the DM then it's possibly just as well they did divert, whatever the reason.

(BTW "14-hour flight"? LGW to KIN??????)

[flight_mode]

From the DM article

They said, "He needs to defecate himself in the chair", and I think that is utterly inhumane.To Fly. To Serve.

They also quote the police
A spokesman for the PSP police on the island of Terceira said Mr Bantu and Ms Stoney were not arrested and the matter was closed as far as they were concerned. He said the civilian force’s only involvement in the incident had been to answer a request to take the pair off the plane, adding: 'They left the plane without incident."

[Basil]

Yes but let's look at this gentleman's reported behaviour.
Could have walked around in economy and stood in an exit area to exercise but, instead:
Walked into business.
Refused to leave.
Kicked off to the point where the cuffs came out (I can assure you that decision is NOT taken lightly).

Perhaps, just perhaps, the requirement to defecate could have been a ploy - Yes? No?
(In a life before aviation I had that one tried on me. It didn't work for him either!)

[NWA SLF]

He is quoted to talk about his medical condition. Did that condition occur during flight? Did he know that he had a condition that required him to stretch his legs but booked the flight in coach anyway thinking there was no way they were going to deny him when he self-upgraded? I once was seated in the middle seat of the outside triplet on a 747 between 2 very large (obese) people. They were a married couple. When I offered to let them my seat so they could sit beside each other they said no, they were to wide to sit side by side so they booked an aisle and window so they could impinge on the person in between. Being a meek and mild person, I put up with this for our 9 hour flight but inside I was wishing there was a way I could push them out of the plane. They knew they needed larger seats but they took advantage. That is the way I see this passenger, taking advantage of the system.

[Piltdown Man]

This is what should happen to disruptive passengers and I feel very sorry for the other people this miserable git has inconvenienced. I just hope other people who feel they are "deserving" now buy a seat appropriate for their medical condition or, even better, choose another form of transport. Flying doesn't suit everybody.

[LTNman]

I also get stiff legs at the back of the aircraft so I should also be allowed to walk to the front end for a free upgrade. As for a medical condition I am sure I could think of one.

I wonder if the guy had a chip on his shoulder, as he thought he was being treated like a slave.:oh:

[sitigeltfel]

Their journey home could be costly. TAP to Lisbon, then a choice of other airlines to London.

If anyone will carry them, that is?

[ImPlaneCrazy]

And the flight returned to Gatwick after all that, presumably because the crew would be out of hours to continue their trip to Jamaica. So a day or two of 200+ peoples holidays wasted. What an :mad:

[Hotel Tango]

These events are always so difficult to judge. We probably will never know the full story. If the gentleman knew that his medical condition could give him problems he could have booked an economy seat with leg room, at extra cost of course - but not that of a Business Class seat. Or he may have simply not anticipated the problem and tried it on thinking he would get a sympathetic reaction from the crew.

[Airbubba]

Don't know if the pax are suddenly empowered by recent media coverage but this guy will inevitably be portrayed as the victim since he couldn't choose his own upgraded seat.

Some more video in this update from the Daily Mail:

British Airways kick couple off after they demand upgrade | Daily Mail Online (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4450576/British-Airways-kick-couple-demand-upgrade.html)

British Airways has become the latest airline to come under fire in recent weeks. Today US-based Delta Airlines was slammed for throwing passenger Kima Hamilton off a flight for using the toilet during a 30 minute delay when the plan was still on the tarmac.

[Basil]

Today US-based Delta Airlines was slammed for throwing passenger Kima Hamilton off a flight for using the toilet during a 30 minute delay when the plan was still on the tarmac.
I'd seen that and would say it's a different situation. In a long queue for take-off it's better to go to the loo than wet the seat.

[DaveReidUK]

There appears to be more to this one than meets the eye.

In a typically confused Daily Mail report (where do they get those idiot journalists from?) it's unclear whether the passenger going to the toilet caused the flight to miss its takeoff slot (i.e. because the cabin wasn't secure when it got to the head of the holding queue) or whether they just decided to return to the gate to make an example of the passenger.

Either way, getting on a flight with less than 30 minutes bladder endurance isn't a great idea. :O

[Basil]

At the age of many of our contributors:
Never walk past a lavatory, never . . . (The rest better left unsaid) ;)

[Basil]

People do try it on.
Many years ago Mrs Bas and I were on LoCo to Canaries and had paid for extra legroom at exit which was on Stbd side opposite boarding door.
People enter, eyeball our seats and start to complain about 'bad legs', 'stiff joints' etc. - can we sit there?
CC, who'd seen it all before, sent them on their way.
Oh, BTW, those clowns weren't 'foreign'; they were full on white Brits.

My view: who cares about the colour of your skin; if you are trying it on then on yer bike, mate!

[vctenderness]

When DVT was a big story in the media I can't tell you how many people on boarding thrust letters, supposedly, from their Doctor saying that they had to be given extra leg room. Their demands for an upgrade to Club or First were always turned down needless to say none suffered any adverse symptoms during the flight.

[Background Noise]

If you have had a DVT, and choose to travel economy, I don't see that you should expect an upgrade. I have had a DVT, and choose to fly long haul in business where possible, and take additional precautions if in economy (surgical stockings - very sexy!) I would however be fairly upset if I was downgraded from a booked business seat.

[papershuffler]

In my day, you had to be an 'able-bodied' adult to sit in the emergency exit seats, which were generally the ones with extra leg room.

So, when people thrust those letters at me, after I had confirmation that they were not 100% physically fit/able, I considered it would have been negligent for me to allow them to sit in those seats.

For me, that is the crux of it: a medical condition disqualifies you from access to an emergency exit seat.

Some people had already paid extra for those seats, but had to be moved because they were not physically able. I bet nowadays, if that was the reason given, there would be shouts of 'Discrimination!', but it's an operational requirement. I would hate to be on the plane where, with no cabin crew present, someone who could hardly walk was the first in line to attempt to open the doors.


I don't fly any more. Due to hip problems, I have a sitting disability - I can't sit upright in a normal chair, and flying is torture for me as it's not possible to recline seats for take-off or landing. I took a week to recover from my last short-haul flight.

If flying is truly that painful, you can't fly. Full stop. Suck it up, and move on. Holiday somewhere you don't have to fly to.

If you still need to fly and you can't afford an upgrade, there are charities out there that may be able to help subsidise the extra cost. If you have a physical limitation, do some research beforehand of how the airport and flying experience will affect you. Ask for assistance to get to/from the gate (the amount of people I saw who didn't do this was unbelievable). Confirm how much leg room there is on your chosen flight/airline.

However, you do not turn up at the airport or even board a plane, and expect special treatment. Not without researching it, booking it, and (if needed) paying for it.