Reporting defects

[Falcon Al]

After an 'experience as pax on an RPT flight today, how can I as a passenger effectively report a defect of any nature in the cabin and have it followed up and rectified?

[DaveReidUK]

What was your "experience"? And who or what is "RPT"?

[TURIN]

Report directly to the cabin crew. They should then assess the nature of the fault and either report it in the cabin log book (if they have one) or report it to the flight crew who will enter it in the Technical log book.
The log books will be assessed by an engineer/technician on the ground and acted upon.

(Well, thats how it should work, it depends on the airline if any of the above actually happens)

[BRUpax]

And who or what is "RPT"?

I think it stands for Regular Public Transport.

[redsnail]

RPT does stand for Regular Public Transport. It's commonly used in Australia.

[Falcon Al]

I think it stands for Regular Public Transport.
Yes thats correct thought it was worldwide terminology?

OK the problem was an aircon/vent (the ventilation strip along the overhead panel) above me was blowing loud and strong and only at that point. I checked the punka vents and they were closed.
There was a mould stain at the point where the jet of air was exiting. After take off my wife next to me started to get sprayed with water from the air leak.
Told an FA who played it down and said it was normal, even after showing her the mould area and she said, "I can get you some towels if you like?"
There was no indication from the FA that she would pass it on.

(Thanks Reddo)
EDIT: B717

I suspected a ventilation duct leak.

Hence my question as to whether this issue will get reported to maintenance. Getting wet in the cabin with mould spores must not be considered a health hazard ?
I am prepared to take this further with the airline but not sure of the protocol.

[Harry Wayfarers]

Yes thats correct thought it was worldwide terminology?

OK the problem was an aircon/vent (the ventilation strip along the overhead panel) above me was blowing loud and strong and only at that point. I checked the punka vents and they were closed.
There was a mould stain at the point where the jet of air was exiting. After take off my wife next to me started to get sprayed with water from the air leak.
Told an FA who played it down and said it was normal, even after showing her the mould area and she said, "I can get you some towels if you like?"
There was no indication from the FA that she would pass it on.

(Thanks Reddo)
EDIT: B717

I suspected a ventilation duct leak.

Hence my question as to whether this issue will get reported to maintenance. Getting wet in the cabin with mould spores must not be considered a health hazard ?
I am prepared to take this further with the airline but not sure of the protocol.

Black mould regularly occurs when warm meets cold. I live in a hot and very humid location, I have white PVC flexi hoses connecting the toilets, wash basins and showers to the water supply, these hoses regularly collect black mould because of the temperature difference between inside and outside the hoses. I have ceiling height split-level air conditioning units and above the 3/16'' thickness ceiling is warm air, as the units attract all the humidity of the room environment in time black mould forms on the ceiling above, from time to time we need to clean with a 50/50 solution of bleach and water with a paintbrush.

I've had it before where water has dripped on me from an aircraft's A/C, indeed down these parts I've even experienced mists forming in the cabins, I've never observed mould though and this could possibly be due to a lack of cleaning during maintenance checks or whatever.

I think most airline websites have a 'contact us' facility, if you have your flight and seat number and/or aircraft registration try contacting the airline although in this day and age it is likely that you may get fobbed off by a call centre agent or it get filed in the trash can.

[TomU]

I would ask the flight attendant for a cutomer feed-back form. Most airlines have them, although they don't put them in the seatback like they used to. write up the problem, hand the form to the flight attendant (letting him/her see you take a photo of it). If the airline does not have a form, and cannot supply a piece of paper, write it up on the sick bag!

[Falcon Al]

Thanks for your interest guys :ok:

Found a chat assistant on the airlines website and submitted a report to get the issue looked at by maintenance. That was all I wanted to get done in the first place by the cabin crew. Instead we got a sensed cool change of attitude toward us as pax. Not a good image from a service provider.

[PAXboy]

I strongly suspect that many (not all) cabin crew have been inculcated with the 21st Century mgmt speak of, "Give them what we tell you. Don't let get away with more. Make sure the flight departs on time and don't waste time ..." etcetera. One of the most interesting books of the corporate world that I have read was the story of how Continental was brought 'From Worst to First' by Gordon Bethune.

He found that ALL the staff had been so 'flattened' by being micro-manged and strapped down as to what they could do for the customer - that they had lost all interest in the customer as there was nothing they could do. Bethune did his job well and the company was bought by United. UAL are well known for their customer service ....

I have seen this problem at first hand in all the corporate world and examples appear in this forum every month. The great god in corporate life is no longer the customer but the shareholder and the bonus for those at the top table.

[Falcon Al]

I have to agree, I've been employed in the aviation industry for about 45 years and my wife is an ex hostie from the 70's. She said she had never seen such a bull**** attitude, just hand out those packaged pizza slices with some tea or coffee and move on.

[ShyTorque]

As a professional pilot, in the past when flying as a passenger from Stavanger into LHR I pointed out a significant oil leak which suddenly began on the port engine of a B737 to a cabin crew member, only to be told "Oh don't worry, they all do that Sir!" Oh no they don't! Oil was flowing out of the front cowling, rather than dripping. We landed safely but there can't have been much oil left.

Another time I was in my window seat of a 737 prior to engine start on a windy day and noticed that a piece of heavy polythene sheet (about six feet by six feet) had blown off a stack of luggage on a passing baggage cart and was sitting on the ground right in front of the intake of the number two engine. I pointed it out to the CC and asked her to advise the captain to get it removed was told "Oh I'm sure that won't be a problem". The message wasn't passed on and guess what happened? The flight was delayed after a hot start.

The most serious instance of passengers trying to alert the crew and being ignored finished in fatal heap on the embankment of the M1 motorway, on short finals to EMA. The captain had announced a fault with one of the two engines, but some RAF passengers realised there was a problem with the other one and queried the announcement. The wrong engine was shut down and the rest is tragic history.

[NorthernChappie]

In the best days of Eastern Airways, was heading back to Aberdeen on a J41 and in the cruise watched the rubber sealant on the outside of my nearest window slowly peel away and eventually fly off. Figured it probably wasn't really an issue other than letting moisture in when on the ground but alerted CC who promptly informed the flight deck. Got a personal thank you very much sir from them on disembark.

[easyflyer83]

Things have changed and with a greater focus on CRM, cabin crew are instructed to pass on concerns to the Captain be it their own concerns of those of passengers. The exception to that being things that cabin crew know for sure is normal, a good example would be ‘barking dog’ from the PTU on the Airbus for instance.

Regarding the incident at Kegworth, nobody alerted the cabin crew and the cabin crew didn’t raise concerns to the flight crew. Both passengers and cabin crew wondered whether the wrong engine was shut down but neither parties queried it.

Some of the examples given in this thread sound like they happened some years back and the responses could well have been reassurance and maybe messages were passed on to the flight crew. Either way, CRM today is infinitely better.