About 1 day comes to mind.
Story here
A bit of a mix up between Grenada and Granada ... fortunately it all worked out for the best in the end.
Very disappointing pair of pictures they have used to show the difference between Granada (a street in the middle of St George which anyone who has been there will recognise) versus Grenada (a picturesque scene) .... poor reporting!
What's in a letter?
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david63
- Site Admin
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- Location: Lancashire
Re: What's in a letter?
I can understand the mistake - probably quite an easy one and if you were paying for it rather than using points then alarm bells would have rung at some point.
What I cannot understand is the use of the term "accidentally boarded" - no, there was no accident she boarded the plane that she had a ticket for. I would guess that it is virtually impossible to "accidentally" board the wrong plane.
What I cannot understand is the use of the term "accidentally boarded" - no, there was no accident she boarded the plane that she had a ticket for. I would guess that it is virtually impossible to "accidentally" board the wrong plane.
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Boris+
- Senior First Officer
- Posts: 3367
- Joined: February 2013
Re: What's in a letter?
Accidentally boarded an aircraft - togwash! Slop, slop and more slop - sloppy crew that is!
Now, believe this or not a long time ago I was at Zaventem waiting to board a flight to dear old Gatwick - so far so good. There was an 'open gate' system, much like the old terminal in LA. Anyway, one pier was to service the flight for Gatwick, and the one next to it was to service a flight to Phuket. it so happened that there was a mix up or delay with flights inbound which were due to turnaround and head for Gatwick, and that caused passengers from other open gates to try and get assistance from the staff on the gate which I was going to (correctly) use.
The staff at the gate were a bit 'jobsworth', and the cabin crew were a bit stressed when eventually the aircraft for my outbound arrived for it's turnaround.
My flight wasn't heavily booked, and then joy of joys suddenly the entrance to the airbridge 'opened' and passengers were 'invited' to board. So, we still have this Belgian jobsworth parading about and being snotty and unhelpful who obviously just wanted her gate area to be cleared. The flight boarded and people squabbled a bit over seats and overhead lockers, and to try and keep the slot we all were told to sit down and 'belt -up' (safety chat) etc.
Nobody wanted to listen to me, no matter what language I used (English, Flemish, French) nobody would listen to me, so I shut up. We took off, and I decided that the best thing to do was to ignore the problems looming. It was a very amusing flight, and it was blatantly obvious that some of the passengers were on the wrong aircraft. I just couldn't help giggling though, when we arrived at Gatwick, I was one of the first passengers off the aircraft, and I was asked what the joke was - well it was no joke, there were at least 50 people behind me wondering how the heck they had got to Phuket so quickly!
Yes, it shouldn't have happened - but if only people at Zaventem had listened to me, it wouldn't have.
Em
Now, believe this or not a long time ago I was at Zaventem waiting to board a flight to dear old Gatwick - so far so good. There was an 'open gate' system, much like the old terminal in LA. Anyway, one pier was to service the flight for Gatwick, and the one next to it was to service a flight to Phuket. it so happened that there was a mix up or delay with flights inbound which were due to turnaround and head for Gatwick, and that caused passengers from other open gates to try and get assistance from the staff on the gate which I was going to (correctly) use.
The staff at the gate were a bit 'jobsworth', and the cabin crew were a bit stressed when eventually the aircraft for my outbound arrived for it's turnaround.
My flight wasn't heavily booked, and then joy of joys suddenly the entrance to the airbridge 'opened' and passengers were 'invited' to board. So, we still have this Belgian jobsworth parading about and being snotty and unhelpful who obviously just wanted her gate area to be cleared. The flight boarded and people squabbled a bit over seats and overhead lockers, and to try and keep the slot we all were told to sit down and 'belt -up' (safety chat) etc.
Nobody wanted to listen to me, no matter what language I used (English, Flemish, French) nobody would listen to me, so I shut up. We took off, and I decided that the best thing to do was to ignore the problems looming. It was a very amusing flight, and it was blatantly obvious that some of the passengers were on the wrong aircraft. I just couldn't help giggling though, when we arrived at Gatwick, I was one of the first passengers off the aircraft, and I was asked what the joke was - well it was no joke, there were at least 50 people behind me wondering how the heck they had got to Phuket so quickly!
Yes, it shouldn't have happened - but if only people at Zaventem had listened to me, it wouldn't have.
Em
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GillD46
- Senior First Officer
- Posts: 3364
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- Location: Gower Peninsula, South Wales
Re: What's in a letter?
Amazing - but how on earth could they have departed with an incorrect manifest?
Gill
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Boris+
- Senior First Officer
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Re: What's in a letter?
Hi Gill,
It was a complete and utter lash-up from start to finish. They might make the excuse of having the different languages at Zaventem, but that wouldn't wash with me. I don't know if you've ever been through there, but where the gates are it's just a long wide extension from the main airport building, with seating areas on the left side and the right side, and every now and again there used to be signs hanging from the ceiling with gates number on - and then the corresponding exit to the airbridge/stairs going down.
I couldn't believe it, I could see what was happening, the announcement was made in English and French only - and then the herd instinct kicked in. There must have been only about 2 or 3 seats left on the aircraft - but nobody 'official' worked out what was going on, and off we went!
Tell you what - good idea (not) let's all book on a short cruise and turn up at Southampton and try and walk on to a different ship going on a longer cruise!
I couldn't believe it - I know what the procedures are, and as the BA flight was departing before the TA flight then the TA flight should have been delayed because it would be carrying bags with no owners - so by rights all the bags would have to come off the TA flight and be identified. As far as the BA flight is concerned firstly there should have been a requirement to at least show a boarding card at the gate, some clot should have checked the manifest/mayfly numbers, and why didn't the flight crew know that there were more passengers than catering?
Oh well, it was unforgettable that's for sure.
Somewhat worryingly just confirmed our BA flights for our flycruise in 2014 today!
Em
It was a complete and utter lash-up from start to finish. They might make the excuse of having the different languages at Zaventem, but that wouldn't wash with me. I don't know if you've ever been through there, but where the gates are it's just a long wide extension from the main airport building, with seating areas on the left side and the right side, and every now and again there used to be signs hanging from the ceiling with gates number on - and then the corresponding exit to the airbridge/stairs going down.
I couldn't believe it, I could see what was happening, the announcement was made in English and French only - and then the herd instinct kicked in. There must have been only about 2 or 3 seats left on the aircraft - but nobody 'official' worked out what was going on, and off we went!
Tell you what - good idea (not) let's all book on a short cruise and turn up at Southampton and try and walk on to a different ship going on a longer cruise!
I couldn't believe it - I know what the procedures are, and as the BA flight was departing before the TA flight then the TA flight should have been delayed because it would be carrying bags with no owners - so by rights all the bags would have to come off the TA flight and be identified. As far as the BA flight is concerned firstly there should have been a requirement to at least show a boarding card at the gate, some clot should have checked the manifest/mayfly numbers, and why didn't the flight crew know that there were more passengers than catering?
Oh well, it was unforgettable that's for sure.
Somewhat worryingly just confirmed our BA flights for our flycruise in 2014 today!
Em
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Not so ancient mariner
- First Officer
- Posts: 1806
- Joined: February 2013
- Location: Cumbria
Re: What's in a letter?
What's in a letter?
.....usually a bill for something or other!
.....usually a bill for something or other!
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Kendhni
Topic author - Ex Team Member
- Posts: 6520
- Joined: January 2013
Re: What's in a letter?
I don;t think it was the airlines fault or a case of getting on the wrong plane (accidentally boarding) ... my reading was that the problem was the rep that booked totally the wrong holiday due to a simple misunderstanding
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Boris+
- Senior First Officer
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- Joined: February 2013
Re: What's in a letter?
I don't know about this one - how many of us completely and utterly fail to check the travel documentation? Then, how many of us are completely and utterly unaware of a destination called Grenada (and it's whereabouts)?
I always check - yesterday I finalised my flights and seats for a fly-cruise next year - so I have the itinerary, and that includes the departure times of flights and their estimated arrival times too. I can then easily see at a glance how long the flights are - and on my documentation I can see that the flight duration is more or less correct for an average flight non-stop on the route we are doing.
I have to admit though, my main reason for checking flight duration etc is to be nosey and see what type of catering we are going to be 'enjoying' - breakfast or dinner etc.
Somehow in the words of Victor Meldrew 'I just don't believe it'.
Em
I always check - yesterday I finalised my flights and seats for a fly-cruise next year - so I have the itinerary, and that includes the departure times of flights and their estimated arrival times too. I can then easily see at a glance how long the flights are - and on my documentation I can see that the flight duration is more or less correct for an average flight non-stop on the route we are doing.
I have to admit though, my main reason for checking flight duration etc is to be nosey and see what type of catering we are going to be 'enjoying' - breakfast or dinner etc.
Somehow in the words of Victor Meldrew 'I just don't believe it'.
Em
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GillD46
- Senior First Officer
- Posts: 3364
- Joined: January 2013
- Location: Gower Peninsula, South Wales
Re: What's in a letter?
Yes, but my response was to Em's story.Kendhni wrote:I don;t think it was the airlines fault or a case of getting on the wrong plane (accidentally boarding) ... my reading was that the problem was the rep that booked totally the wrong holiday due to a simple misunderstanding
Gill
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Boris+
- Senior First Officer
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- Joined: February 2013
Re: What's in a letter?
The thing is Gill, maybe (just maybe) some people aren't are competent in their working lives as many of us would have been when we were working. I am using 'we' to include everyone on this forum.
Mistakes can happen, but in previous times flight reservations would always be read back to a customer, stating the estimated time of departure and the estimate time of arrival - so that even at that early stage of a reservation being made the customer was aware of the length of the flight.
The other thing which used to happen was that the names and locations of airports would be used during the making of or amendment to a reservation, so for example 'London Heathrow', 'London Gatwick', 'Belfast Aldergrove', 'Cardiff Rhoose', 'Paris CDG' etc. It was a professional way of trying to ensure that customers made reservations for the flight they wanted, and not a flight to somewhere different.
As far as I know, BA only fly to Granada (GRX) from London City.
Oh well, as they say, mistakes can happen!
Em
Mistakes can happen, but in previous times flight reservations would always be read back to a customer, stating the estimated time of departure and the estimate time of arrival - so that even at that early stage of a reservation being made the customer was aware of the length of the flight.
The other thing which used to happen was that the names and locations of airports would be used during the making of or amendment to a reservation, so for example 'London Heathrow', 'London Gatwick', 'Belfast Aldergrove', 'Cardiff Rhoose', 'Paris CDG' etc. It was a professional way of trying to ensure that customers made reservations for the flight they wanted, and not a flight to somewhere different.
As far as I know, BA only fly to Granada (GRX) from London City.
Oh well, as they say, mistakes can happen!
Em
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Mervyn and Trish
- Commodore
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- Joined: February 2013
Re: What's in a letter?
My understanding too is that the mistake was in the booling - i.e the passenger did board the correct plane as identified on their tickets, so neither the gate staff nor the cabin staff would have any reason to query it.
What I'm not clear about is whether the booking staff booked the wrong destination or the passenger requested the wrong destination. Though it does worry me a bit that a former school teacher might think that such a lengthy flight from England to Spain could be down to time differences!
When I realise from watching too many tv quiz shows how awful some people's UK geography is I'd not be surprised if passengers did make duff bookings from time to time, and I don't see how booking staff can query everyone. "Are you sure you really want to go there sir/madam?" After all a booking to go to Grenada is not an unreasonable request. I am, whoever is to blame, impressed with BA's efforts to sort it out. I may be booking myself a flight to Grenada/Grenada sometime soon to see if I can get a freebie.
By the way, don't attempt this with Ryanair. I suspect they'd dump you on the runway and say "tough".
What I'm not clear about is whether the booking staff booked the wrong destination or the passenger requested the wrong destination. Though it does worry me a bit that a former school teacher might think that such a lengthy flight from England to Spain could be down to time differences!
When I realise from watching too many tv quiz shows how awful some people's UK geography is I'd not be surprised if passengers did make duff bookings from time to time, and I don't see how booking staff can query everyone. "Are you sure you really want to go there sir/madam?" After all a booking to go to Grenada is not an unreasonable request. I am, whoever is to blame, impressed with BA's efforts to sort it out. I may be booking myself a flight to Grenada/Grenada sometime soon to see if I can get a freebie.
By the way, don't attempt this with Ryanair. I suspect they'd dump you on the runway and say "tough".