Pre-Boarding Farce at Schiphol
The Analog Kid
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Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: Brecon Beacons National Park
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Pre-Boarding Farce at Schiphol
I'm by no means a whinger and obviously people are people and make mistakes but I got the "you haven't posted for a while" message when I logged in and it jogged my memory of an incident on Saturday morning at Schiphol.
Two BMI Baby flights, one to BHX, one to East Mids, the former originally shown as Gate D31 and the latter as D28; gates changed to D28 for the Birmingham and D26 the East Mids (the aircraft taxied to their gates line astern, so why the BHX wasn't just switched to D26 and the East Mids left with its original gate is anyone's guess; maybe equipment; dunno). Bear in mind no gate change announcements were made (although obviously the final gate boards were correct) and having the security check at the gate probably flusters a lot of people and distracts them from double-checking the last board.
Anyway, I think the gate agent must have been out on the razz the night before as she managed to let not one, not two but eight East Mids pax (not a group - all travelling individually from what I could see) through boarding card check for the BHX flight and into the pre-boarding hold area, then allowed boarding to commence while she double-checked the stubs she now had - with the result that she had to come down the airbridge and retrieve the last three souls practically from right by the aircraft door. She was also so distracted by all of this that, having been last in the initial batch she let through, I actually had myself to tell the four people behind me who hadn't had their cards checked at all to go back when they just sauntered through when the queue started moving and she wasn't paying attention.
As if the general security farce isn't bad enough, I know we're all fallible but the above doesn't exactly give a good impression, does it? How are infrequent travellers supposed to have any confidence in the system whatsoever?
Two BMI Baby flights, one to BHX, one to East Mids, the former originally shown as Gate D31 and the latter as D28; gates changed to D28 for the Birmingham and D26 the East Mids (the aircraft taxied to their gates line astern, so why the BHX wasn't just switched to D26 and the East Mids left with its original gate is anyone's guess; maybe equipment; dunno). Bear in mind no gate change announcements were made (although obviously the final gate boards were correct) and having the security check at the gate probably flusters a lot of people and distracts them from double-checking the last board.
Anyway, I think the gate agent must have been out on the razz the night before as she managed to let not one, not two but eight East Mids pax (not a group - all travelling individually from what I could see) through boarding card check for the BHX flight and into the pre-boarding hold area, then allowed boarding to commence while she double-checked the stubs she now had - with the result that she had to come down the airbridge and retrieve the last three souls practically from right by the aircraft door. She was also so distracted by all of this that, having been last in the initial batch she let through, I actually had myself to tell the four people behind me who hadn't had their cards checked at all to go back when they just sauntered through when the queue started moving and she wasn't paying attention.
As if the general security farce isn't bad enough, I know we're all fallible but the above doesn't exactly give a good impression, does it? How are infrequent travellers supposed to have any confidence in the system whatsoever?
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Dublin
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Last month in DUB we had a case of a number of SZG passengers board a RIX flight. They managed to get on and sit down on the RIX flight. By the time the mistake was coped the SZG flight was gone, and FR had the gaul to ask the passengers who got onto the wrong flight for a new fare! This was in the temporary boarding area that doesnt have FIDS.
