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?