A British Airways business class passenger flying from Houston to London Heathrow on September 24th reports that he was the only black customer in the business class cabin. Seated in 9F, a flight attendant offered predeparture beverages to everyone seated around him. But she skipped over him.
- He’d paid “almost $5,000” for the ticket.
- The white passenger behind him got a drink. So did the other white passengers around him.
- So he asked what was up, “Am I not being offered a welcome drink?”
- The crewmember reportedly replied: “Oh, I thought you had been upgraded.”
In fact, this explanation is worse.
- While flight attendants aren’t supposed to treat award or upgrade passengers differently in the first place
- This explanation suggests they thought the passenger must be an upgrade, rather than full paying passenger, because they’re black
- And so they decided – on their own, rather than airline policy – to offer that passenger worse service.
One commenter offers,
One day I hope to live in a world where rich people of all races can coexist harmoniously in business class.
It’s common for a flight attendant to miss a seat while offering beverages during boarding. And I would have assumed this is what had happened! The correct thing to do would be to apologize and come back with a beverage. Instead, though, the report here is that the flight attendant indicated it was intentional and not a mere oversight.
British Airways isn’t known for great service, or great predeparture beverage service. Pre‑departure beverages in BA Club World are typically champagne or orange juice on a tray. I’ve been denied my request for water and I’m a middle aged white guy.
Once up in the air, though, you can expect a proper cocktail.
It does seem – based on the flight attendant’s response – that there was a bias of some kind. Cabin crew thought their bias was socioeconomic class rather than race, but it seems as though they were making a class judgment based on race (when they shouldn’t have been making one at all). As they say, “British Airways. To Fly. To Disserve.”
Last year, two British Airways flight attendants were fired for recording a racist video mocking Asian passengers. I’ve reached out to British Airways for comment and will update if they respond.
(HT: Paddle Your Own Kanoo)
Had it happen to me from a flight attendant in FC on a USA domestic flight
I had no contact with him at all as he skipped me on everything as I just sat there and the seat mate was given everything
I politely called him on it and he tried to shrug it off by saying he didn’t see me
I pressed him on the aspect of poor service
He came back to me with his iPad and finally apologized after talking to the galley flight attendant and gave me 10K miles
I’m white and he is black so the prejudice goes both ways
This kind of shit really pisses me off. I don’t care what race you are the service should be the service. This person needs to be reprimanded but not fired. Leave your customer judgements and prejudices at the door and do the job.
This is abhorrent. This man should fly on an airline started by his own people instead. With aircraft invented by his people. That’ll teach BA.
Hey fatty (yes you’re still fat), why don’t comments post?
I do recall, many years ago before I decided never to fly again on BA, that it was indeed their policy that any upgraded passengers were not entitled to the business class refreshments and meals, and received only what they would have received in coach. I don’t know if that has changed in the last two decades or so since I flew on Best Avoided?
Here’s a newsflash for all the Brits out there: the empire has fallen and the sun has f***** set so move on!
Something bad happened to me, it’s definitely because I’m __________ (fill in the blank: black/white/male/female/fat/old/young/gay/straight etc). Gimme a break.