A British Airways passenger says the person seated next to him on an 11-hour flight from Johannesburg to London Heathrow was served 10 mini-bottles of Bacardi within the first few hours of the trip. The neighbor became heavily intoxicated and vomited on himself, the seats, the floor, and on the passenger.
He complained to the airline and they offered him a £50 future travel voucher for his troubles. Was that enough?
On a recent 11hour flight from JHB to LHR the BA flight staff served the passenger next to me 10 Bicardi mini bottles in the first few hours of the flight. He became so intoxicated that he vomited on himself, the seats, the floor, myself and the passenger on the other side of him. The flight was full and we were unable to move anywhere. An attempt was made to clean up the mess , but the whole experience was terrible and unacceptable, as the staff giving him this volume of alcohol was complicit in the vomiting.
Here is BA’s response:
From the passenger’s perspective, flight attendants overserved the passenger so the airline is to blame. This isn’t random passenger misbehavior. In the British Airways view, the intoxicated passenger behaved badly and it’s not their fault – so a token apology that requires buying a future plane ticket is all that’s warranted. It’s “sorry this happened” not “we owe you.”
Surely the passenger in this case deserves a British Airways Yellow Card.
Here’s how BA’s joint venture partner American Airlines knows you’re intoxicated, and what they’ll do about it. American’s flight attendants union has demanded the airline impose a two-drink limit on passengers.
Has difficulty with balance or fine motor control.
Speaks with inappropriate volume, pace, or poor enunciation.
Takes long to respond, is unable to understand or pay attention.
Emits a strong odor of an alcoholic beverage.
Behaves in an erratic, obnoxious manner.
Is extremely argumentative with other customers or employees.
Sometimes though you can just get a nice buzz going over a set of long flights and not become belligerant, like this Singapore Airlines first class passenger who personally drank 8 bottles of Dom Perignon on connecting flights from Los Angeles to Bangkok.
(HT: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)
Sorry but the person making this claim is exaggerating what has happened! Why would they be counting how many drinks there neighbours has drunk, only a Karen would be this petty.
They are exaggerating to get more from BA. well done to BA for recognising what this Karen is about and just offering a paltry amount of compensation
Great FlyerTalk reference at the end.
Mr. Macabus: “All good signs that the cabin will be mine. Hah!”
One would like to think BA would send the passenger 10 Bacardi minis on to of the 50 bucks?
I admit to sometimes enjoying multiple drinks on long flights. This Karen is going to make that harder. By the way, the internet says this is a gender neutral so it could apply to the man referred to in this article
I remember one time, someone spilled coffee all over my light pants. He looked so apologetic. I thought it was a little amusing and told him not to worry about it. But I think he still felt really guilty. But if I was a Karen, I would want to ban coffee on planes.
Also, people get sick on planes. Probably that had more to do with air sickness. About two years ago in a Singapore Airlines flight (JFK-SIN) flight, an old woman was rushing to the bathroom in the back. She did not make it and threw up all over the floor. It took the stewardess about 30 minutes to clean it up. If I was a Karen, I would want to ban old people on planes.
Actually, some time ago, I remember someone using the barf bag next to me on a long flight.
Personally I think that the airlines should stop serving alcoholic drinks on airlines but they are in it for the money. Since they are in it for the money, they should have reasonable awards for collateral damage from overserving people. In this case, I would consider an award with a value of around 200 USD to be correct.
Like American Airlines, British Airways is rapidly climbing to the bottom. WHY…WHY would the flight attendants not quit serving this person? It’s just as much their fault as it is the sot!
Come on, this is disgusting!! Absolutely should be a limit for the simple reason that alcohol acts differently in the air. It should be banned or limited to a couple. Other people should be protected in every way vs allowing disgusting outcomes like this. Just disgusting.
A passenger on a British Airways flight drank 10 mini-bottles of Bacardi rum. Afterward, he vomited on his seatmate, the seats, the floor, and himself. British Airways offered a £50 travel voucher for the mess. Gary Leff asks, “Was that enough?” I say no. That’s only £5 for each mini-bottle consumed. If your seatmate was attempting to achieve a permabuzz but ends up spewing vomit like Mount Vesuvius, you deserve more. British Airways might offer more if you help clean up the pool of vomit on the floor, your seat and the passenger. If you did that, this stingy airline might give you an extra £25 credit for a future flight.
Yeah, think about a couple of hours reeking of some stranger’s vomit. I’d want more than a 50 pound voucher.
I smiled when I read the BA Customer Relations letter. They’re always verbose, contrite, and boilerplate. But appropriate compensation? Not so much. Words are cheap.
Another reason for wearing coveralls on a flight.
Three letter Station Code for Johannesburg is JNB and not JHB.
Three Letter code for Johannesburg is JNB not JHB.
@Ramachandran N N — Good catch. Though, since it was the passenger who had been vomited on that wrote it, can hardly blame them for getting the IATA code slightly wrong. Would it have been any better if they said O.R. Tambo, instead? Probably not.
The most fun is reading the replies and guessing who will be going to AA next. Obviously the crew has to use some judgement in continually serving alcohol. Not just because of sickness but ensuring safe and decent behavior. And no the compensation was not close to being adequate. Passengers on a plane don’t have options such as time to leave this barstool the guy next to me is out of control.
11 bottles… lightweight.