British Airways and Disability Discrimination!!

rose28454

My sister and husband left this morning for a fortnights holiday in Florida. They booked with BA and told them they needed a wheelchair and seats with good legroom. My Brother in Law had a severe stroke ( at 50! ) and is disabled down his right side. My sister rand Customer Services yesterday to ask about and were told they would have bulk head seats as they have more leg room they also told her not to check in on line as they would allocate the seats for them. They got to the airport early and asked if there was any chance of an upgrade and were told no sorry it is full.
Whe they got on the plane they were seated in the middle of the plane with very limited legroom. They spoke to the steward who said to wait until everybody was seated and they would see what they could do. They then said they could upgrade to World Traveller at £200 each extra but the leg room was not much better( so much for the plane being full!!) In the end they moved my brother in law to a seat with more leg room 10 rows behind my sister on his own. She rang me and I called BA and after 25 minutes on the phone I registered a complaint and the lady booked bulk head seats for the way back.
I am incandescent with rage because he is quite badly disabled and needs my sister to cut up his meat etc and is now seated on his own for a 10 hour flight. They had asked for bulk head seats as he is in a risk category for DVT due to his stroke
It is a disgrace that people should be treated like this.

LB1985

Sorry to hear about the trouble your sister and her husband have had. Just out of interest, did they check in online?

JasonLVC

It's not disability discrimination - just poor customer service.

Bulk head seats are the cream of the crop for any traveller and go to families with children/babies and the disabled - BUT there are only so many of them on a plane (basically the first middle row of seats in economy class and maybe a bit further back - 1st class will not have any bulk seats only more legroom) and babies and disabled are banned from exit doors.

Clearly BA have not booked your seat properly but they are hardly discriminating against disabled people - if they did a RyanAir and refused them on the plane....that would be wrong.

I'm able bodied and recall booking two first class seats with Virgin last year. Got onto plane and my two seats were not together!. I was sitting with a Fat American and my wife with an old Canadian lady. We had a word and steward asked the two politely if they do a swap but they refused (:mad: ) - so had to fly seperated from the wife. Virgin upgraded me on way back after kicking off but still not good enough.

If steward couldn't get someone else to shift from the bulkhead for your BIL (and why would they, they've got the best seats for 10 hours) then what else could stewards do?. If the bulkheads were filled with mums with litte babies would you want a mum to leave her 1 year old 10 rows back just so that your BIL get's a bit more leg-room?) - so it's a tough call for the steward to fix on board. An upgrade would still not be enough space - and remember that check in staff ALWAYS refuse upgrades unless you're a frequent traveller but on board can be at the discretion of the stewards.

dmg24

rose28454 wrote: »

They got to the airport early and asked if there was any chance of an upgrade and were told no sorry it is full ... They then said they could upgrade to World Traveller at £200 each extra but the leg room was not much better( so much for the plane being full!!)

Why would they expect a free upgrade?

Agree with all the comments of JasonLVC, this is not disability discrimination, just an error on the part of the person that allocated the seats.

_Andy_

Agreed that the CS isn't great in this example. I do find the expectation of a free upgrade a bit offensive though - if they wanted a premium product they should pay for it. £200 one-way is pretty reasonable.

rose28454

JasonLVC wrote: »

It's not disability discrimination - just poor customer service.

Bulk head seats are the cream of the crop for any traveller and go to families with children/babies and the disabled - BUT there are only so many of them on a plane (basically the first middle row of seats in economy class and maybe a bit further back - 1st class will not have any bulk seats only more legroom) and babies and disabled are banned from exit doors.

Clearly BA have not booked your seat properly but they are hardly discriminating against disabled people - if they did a RyanAir and refused them on the plane....that would be wrong.

I'm able bodied and recall booking two first class seats with Virgin last year. Got onto plane and my two seats were not together!. I was sitting with a Fat American and my wife with an old Canadian lady. We had a word and steward asked the two politely if they do a swap but they refused (:mad: ) - so had to fly seperated from the wife. Virgin upgraded me on way back after kicking off but still not good enough.

If steward couldn't get someone else to shift from the bulkhead for your BIL (and why would they, they've got the best seats for 10 hours) then what else could stewards do?. If the bulkheads were filled with mums with litte babies would you want a mum to leave her 1 year old 10 rows back just so that your BIL get's a bit more leg-room?) - so it's a tough call for the steward to fix on board. An upgrade would still not be enough space - and remember that check in staff ALWAYS refuse upgrades unless you're a frequent traveller but on board can be at the discretion of the stewards.

I find your comments very offensive. My BIL is severly disabled after a stroke and cant move his right handat all, has limited mobility in his right leg and has speech problems. BA's policy states that they are within their rights to move people seats if they deem it necessary. My BIL does not just want a bit more leg room it is vital to him as he has limited mobility so is at risk of DVT. Also my sister rang BA yesterday and was told as they had allocated bulk head seats she did not need to check in online and when she asked about upgradng that it was better to ask at check in as shemay be offered a betterdeal oreven a freeupgrade.
I am sure the people criticising my BIL on her would not want to have hadasevere stroke likehe did and noebe badly disabled.I though I might get some advice on here and not get such nasy comments. BA will be getting a strong letter about this and I hope all of you who responded so nastily never have the misfortuneto becomedisabled

rose28454

JasonLVC wrote: »

It's not disability discrimination - just poor customer service.

Bulk head seats are the cream of the crop for any traveller and go to families with children/babies and the disabled - BUT there are only so many of them on a plane (basically the first middle row of seats in economy class and maybe a bit further back - 1st class will not have any bulk seats only more legroom) and babies and disabled are banned from exit doors.

Clearly BA have not booked your seat properly but they are hardly discriminating against disabled people - if they did a RyanAir and refused them on the plane....that would be wrong.

I'm able bodied and recall booking two first class seats with Virgin last year. Got onto plane and my two seats were not together!. I was sitting with a Fat American and my wife with an old Canadian lady. We had a word and steward asked the two politely if they do a swap but they refused (:mad: ) - so had to fly seperated from the wife. Virgin upgraded me on way back after kicking off but still not good enough.

If steward couldn't get someone else to shift from the bulkhead for your BIL (and why would they, they've got the best seats for 10 hours) then what else could stewards do?. If the bulkheads were filled with mums with litte babies would you want a mum to leave her 1 year old 10 rows back just so that your BIL get's a bit more leg-room?) - so it's a tough call for the steward to fix on board. An upgrade would still not be enough space - and remember that check in staff ALWAYS refuse upgrades unless you're a frequent traveller but on board can be at the discretion of the stewards.

I find your comments very offensive. My BIL is severly disabled after a stroke and cant move his right handat all, has limited mobility in his right leg and has speech problems. BA's policy states that they are within their rights to move people seats if they deem it necessary. My BIL does not just want a bit more leg room it is vital to him as he has limited mobility so is at risk of DVT. Also my sister rang BA yesterday and was told as they had allocated bulk head seats she did not need to check in online and when she asked about upgradng that it was better to ask at check in as shemay be offered a betterdeal oreven a freeupgrade.
I am sure the people criticising my BIL on her would not want to have hadasevere stroke likehe did and noebe badly disabled.I though I might get some advice on here and not get such nasy comments. BA will be getting a strong letter about this and I hope all of you who responded so nastily never have the misfortuneto becomedisabled

dmg24

You are taking this far too personally - I can't see any comment that criticises your BIL!

As Jason_LVC said, there are many types of traveller that would ideally require a bulk head seat. Unfortunately it is not always possible to accommodate them all.

Sam_Bee

I think you are turning the issue into an emotive one, instead of a practical one. No-one is having a pop at your BIL, or demeaning a stroke, or the effects of a stroke.

The simple truth is that in economy only bulkhead and emergency exit seats get extra space, your bil can't get emergency exits and the bulkhead seats have to be prioritised for mothers as they are the only seats that cots can fit onto.

Any other seat is marginal.

Quite simply only an upgraded seat sounds suitable from what you have described, and you will only get an upgraded seat by paying for it.

If I was in their position, I would not fly longhaul unless I had the means to pay for an upgrade, especially for a 'holiday'.

Tojo_Ralph

....
First off, I am in not going to comment on your BIL's case, but I may as well join the list of those who aren't simply going to belly rub the OP.

Airline staff have a difficult job accommodating the demands of passengers at the best of times, be they passengers with babies, with young children, with bad backs, with medical problems, with disabilities or quite simply with sob stories in the hope of an upgrade.

And on the subject of upgrades, if anyone is going to get an upgrade, surely it should be the frequent flyer who should get it?

Day in day out airline staff have to deal with passengers who choose to fly and then try to brow beat staff into arranging seats with more legroom, upgrades, etc, etc, with tales of woe and straight forward emotional blackmail..... And as I have already said, I am not commenting on your BIL, rather I am trying to explain the situation the airline staff find themselves in.

moonrakerz

Sorry to tell you this, but if they are coming back from Miami the customer service there is even worse than this end !!

About 18 months ago, we asked for a wheelchair for my wife. We got to the check-in early (wouldn't work on line), big queue already. Check in opens 30 mins late. No wheel chair until after you have checked in ! No seats, ask if we can check-in at (empty) first class check-in, told by staff - Certainly Not, you are Economy !
Complained to duty manager, she told first class check-in (still empty) to check us in. Done with extreme ill-grace. Wheel chair arrives, takes us through security in 10 minute - everyone else in 200 yd queue.

Get on plane - check-in man has given us the two worst seats on the aircraft, revenge ?

Explain problems to cabin crew, very helpful. can't move our seat as aircraft is full. Let her have crew seat in galley area where she can put her legs up, given ice pack as well. At Heathrow, tell us to remain seated, tell us when wheel chair is at aircraft door.

Ground Staff 0 out of 10 for customer service
Cabin crew 11 out of 10 !