Delayed over 1 hour in Airport and over 2 hours on grounded plane.

Adamc

Hi 

We we boarded our flight to the UK from Barbados 1.5 hours after the scheduled departure time. After 40 mins the pilot announced a non-specific delay the details of which were unknown to him.
After another 30 mins he came back to say the the luggage was still being scanned and was not yet loaded and should be within the next 1.5 hours. Just over two hours had passed before we got cleared to fly. 

We had been at the airport (very hot and crowded) for over 4 hours before boarding. And it was around 8 hours since arrival that we got our in flight meal. Had it been announced we'd be waiting so long I would have bought food. Some people probably did not have the means to buy food as the airplane could sell Pringles but could only accept card. 

This was following a cruise with a lot of elderly and not so tech savvy passengers. The holiday catered to all their food and drink requirements so they may have been ill prepared to feed or hydrate themselves. Provisions in the airport were both expensive and required Barbadian dollars, US dollars, or card payments. 

TUI had sent out an email regarding compensation claims before we landed. 

What rights do we as passengers have? I believe ill prepared passengers were very poorly looked after. I think it was unethical to board us before luggage as if there had been a medical emergency how could care have been provided?

la531983

Hard to tell from that how long the flight was actually delayed by. Remember its the delay to arrival time that counts.

The currency is absolutely irrelevant. What were people expecting things in Barbados to be priced in? 

eskbanker

Adamc said:

What rights do we as passengers have?

Putting aside any right to compensation for delayed arrival, passengers also have the right to care, in that the regulations state that "When an operating air carrier reasonably expects a flight to be delayed beyond its scheduled time of departure [...] for four hours or more [on a flight of >3500km] [...] passengers shall be offered free of charge meals and refreshments in a reasonable relation to the waiting time".  However, my interpretation of your post is that the delay was just over 3.5 hours, so that right wouldn't have applied?

Adamc said:

I think it was unethical to board us before luggage as if there had been a medical emergency how could care have been provided?

In what way would the wait on board have affected the response to a medical emergency?

bagand96

Adamc said:

Hi 

We we boarded our flight to the UK from Barbados 1.5 hours after the scheduled departure time. After 40 mins the pilot announced a non-specific delay the details of which were unknown to him.
After another 30 mins he came back to say the the luggage was still being scanned and was not yet loaded and should be within the next 1.5 hours. Just over two hours had passed before we got cleared to fly. 

It sounds from your description that the crew may not have been aware that the baggage would be delayed when they started boarding?

I don't know what the bag scanning procedures are but it could well be outside the control of the airline, especially is it's a customs/security requirement (bonded luggage from the cruise ship maybe?) 

Adamc said

We had been at the airport (very hot and crowded) for over 4 hours before boarding. And it was around 8 hours since arrival that we got our in flight meal. Had it been announced we'd be waiting so long I would have bought food. Some people probably did not have the means to buy food as the airplane could sell Pringles but could only accept card. 

This was following a cruise with a lot of elderly and not so tech savvy passengers. The holiday catered to all their food and drink requirements so they may have been ill prepared to feed or hydrate themselves. Provisions in the airport were both expensive and required Barbadian dollars, US dollars, or card payments. 

Is having a credit/debit card being "tech savvy?" I'd suggest most who managed book a cruise with TUI probably payed with a credit or debit card? (OK some could have paid cash at their local TUI store, but the cash must come from somewhere).  Do people really travel across the world without a credit/debit card for emergencies? Or at least some cash (for the non "tech savvy") 

Adamc said:

TUI had sent out an email regarding compensation claims before we landed. 

What rights do we as passengers have? I believe ill prepared passengers were very poorly looked after. I think it was unethical to board us before luggage as if there had been a medical emergency how could care have been provided?

How would medical emergency care have been provided once the aircraft is in flight?

You say TUI have emailed regarding compensation, so assuming the flight is eligible you'll receive at least £260 compo per passenger. Hopefully that will help soften the blow. 

la531983

Really not sure what you are after then if they have emailed you saying you are getting the delay compensation.

You get nothing for a foreign airport being expensive
You get nothing for a foreign airport selling things in, erm, foreign currencies
You get nothing for boarding a plane before the luggage (really not sure what your argument is here)
You get nothing because some customers were, quite frankly, silly to go on a big foreign holiday without taking any backup cash or a debit card, neither of which the the tech unsavvy would have issues using given debit cards have been around since the 1980s, and credit cards even longer.