Removed from flight.

[Madhatter24]

This is quite a long thread but I want you to get all the information as I am really confused and want to give my friend the best advice.

A friend of mine who was returning from holiday, she was travelling with her brother, his wife, their two young children and my elderly mother in law who is age 70+. They were seated separately on the plane, my friend was seated upstairs and everyone else was seated downstairs together. The niece was crying for my friend and she was becoming agitated as she is very attached to her and she is always with her, however as she was seated upstairs she couldn't sit with her. My friend asked the stewardess it was it possible for her to sit near her family and they said once everyone is boarded, if there's a way they can swap her with another passenger they will. She accepted this and was waiting patiently for the flight to board and take off. Another passenger on the plane complained to the steward and said that my friends niece is ill and should be checked over by a doctor before being allowed to fly (she was crying quite loudly and my friends sis in law was trying desperately to calm her).

The stewardess then goes over to the sister in law and asks if the child is ill. The sister-in-law explained that she's not ill and she is crying for her auntie and who is seated upstairs.

Another stewardess then goes upstairs and said that My friend need to go downstairs (she didn't say why and my friend thought it was because they found a seat for her near her family).
In the meantime My friend was not aware of this but the stewardess that was in charge was asking her family to get off the flight and get the child checked by a doctor within the airport. The sister-in-law and brother were saying that the child is not ill and that she is crying because she wants to be seated with her auntie. However they were refusing to listen and said that they must all get off the flight and get the child checked by the doctor within the airport. They were absolutely refusing to listen. They were trying to explain to them that they are travelling with an elderly person and to young children.

As they kept on trying to explain the situation to the stewardess and explain that the child is not ill and she is only upset because she wants to be seated with her auntie, they started getting increasingly rude and saying get out of this plane now. Eventually they had no option but to leave the flight. They went to the medical room and the doctor checked the child and said that there is absolutely no reason why the child cannot fly. They then went back to the check-in desk And they said that as they have missed their flight and that they need to pay a penalty of £200 each. Again they tried to explain the situation to the check in staff and said that they were removed from the flight due to no fault of their own and it was only because a another passenger complained that the small child was ill when she wasn't she was only crying because she wanted to be sat next to her auntie. However once again they were not being reasonable and would not listen to our side. They eventually had to pay £100 per person as a penalty for missing the flight.

When they arrived back at Heathrow, a few pieces of luggage arrived however the reminder of the luggage arrived in dribs and drabs over the next few days delivered to the home address.

My friend has been completely and utterly broken by this whole experience. It has caused her to become ill and she is unable to work because the of the stress this whole situation caused. What would you do in this situation? I was thinking of tagging the airline (emirates) on a Facebook page, however thinking a bit deeper was thinking maybe write to them and see what their response is.

She saying it's not just about the financial loss that they incurred, it's about the stress and ordeal they had to go through with two young children and elderly mother-in-law. All because another person just said that the child was ill. This has completely ruined her holiday and she has just become a recluse and feels like a complete failure for not having managed the situation better at the time. I'm sorry this is such a long post but I just want to get all the details in.

WWYD.

No Daily Mail story here - 😢😢😢. Sorry to disappoint you. Also yes she was on a separate booking, but she was hardly going to leave her family - elderly mother in law with mobility problems and two children with special needs. She was kind of in charge and the rest of the family were relying on her. Also nobody was being rude, aggressive or abusive. It's a very strange situation and I was telling my friend that the whole thing sounds made up. Unfortunately it's not made up and once the complaint is in and resolved I will post the full complaint letter. xx

She was kind of in charge and the rest of the family were relying on her.

So how come she was on a standby ticket and not booked in with the rest of the family.

Not too sure why she was on a standby ticket and to be honest that's not really the point of this post. It's the fact they got removed from the flight because of a crying baby (who happened to fall asleep and was actually asleep when they were removed, therefore she most probably would have slept the rest of the flight (as it was the middle of the night) and not disturbed anyone).

There has got to be so much more to this than what your friend is telling you. If I understand it correctly, you weren't there?

The crew were perfectly within their rights to insist somebody they thought was ill be checked out by a doctor. They are responsible for the health and safety of everyone that flies. Same goes for any unruly passengers. They simply wouldn't offload a whole family at the last minute without good reason. From the hysterical child not being able to cope without their aunt to the mother that has virtually had a break down and ruined life over what happened I'm sensing that this family were not quite as calm and not arguing as you're suggesting.

There has to be more to this. They don't remove families from a flight just because a child is crying.

But if your friend was not on the same booking as the rest of the family and not even seated in the same part of the plane then why was she removed from the flight if they thought the child was ill? Since she was not, according to her ticketing, part of the same party as the child she basically volunteered to get off with them which means she doesn’t have any right to be rebooked for a subsequent flight. If the airline permitted her to fly on the next flight for only £100 she’s been lucky and shouldn’t complain. Also, you’ve got no idea why she was on standby - is there any chance at all that she was travelling on someone she knows Staff Travel? If she was, she should tread very carefully. On Staff Travel (the only way in this age that I can see anyone would be on standby if they haven’t had trouble travelling on an earlier flight)) you are expected to sit where you are put, be on your best behaviour, and be grateful for everything you are offered. You are effectively flying for free. If you friend had done the opposite of this and been part of a group that kicked up a stink, delayed a flight and is now demanding compensation for psychological trauma she will be in danger of jeopardising whoever has got her the ticket’s Staff Travel too.

Before you start tagging airlines on social media I’d make sure you have enough facts not to look stupid. Why was she on a standby ticket? I’ve had to sit at the opposite end of the plane to my 7 year old DC1 once when a flight was full and we were on standby. You accept your seating as standbys get on after all the fare-paying passengers are on. You don’t have a right to then start asking for fare-paying passengers to move so you can sit with your friends or family.

Sounds extremely implausible

Standby might not be the point of your post but if it’s not possible then the story starts to unravel

they were purposely removed from the flight due to no fault of their own

Peoe don't get removed from a flight for no fault
It is expensive for the plane company and causes delays

I'm assuming they are people with liiself awareness of how they are coming across.

I am confused as to whose mother in law it is. So it was your friend, your friend’s brother, his wife, and their children... but then you’ve written ‘my’ mother in law (apparently because you started writing this in the first person)... is it normal to take one’s mother in law on a family holiday but not take your partner? Or is she actually the mother in law of the friends brother, the SIL’s mother?

Apologies if this has been explained, I only read about the first 5 pages...

Backinthebox is 100% correct. I fly standby (staff) and there are very strict rules from what you wear, to how you behave, etc etc. If you make any of this public on social media the staff member who allowed the passenger to fly standby will be in very very big trouble. I can't out any more info on this but please believe me.
I don't really understand why you are getting involved anyway??

I travel occasionally in parties which are on different bookings, sometimes on different bases (is that the plural of basis?). We are acutely aware that in an overbooking situation the party might be split, and less seriously seating together again might not work (even with pre booking).

I’ve done “On business, family coming as well”, “flying back on different days not out together” and of course “whoops, yes I can come, let’s book, oh you have already”. In each case, we had plans to deal with what happened if part of the group were denied boarding or not seated together. Separate carryon, copies of tickets for onward travel and hotels, and so on.

Emirates split 4 of us (2 children) despite us having checked in 2 days ahead - and no option to pay for seats together (presumably a problem with the computer that day) so it can happen but othe passengers were lovely and shuffled so that 3 of us were together.
There is however no excuse for “tired and hungry” autistic kids going into what the parents will recognise is a stressful situation. Book day flights and spend less time at duty free, more time feeding the kids at the airport. The parents have a steep learning curve ahead of them it seems

Completely off topic but those that have been in upstairs economy is it worth the £25 for middle seats and £60 for twin seats up there? Can’t afford an upgrade but I could probably stretch to that.

Why didn't the complainant just swap with the aunt?

Surely that would have solved everything

(lighthearted before you all deluge me in angry comments about his/her travelling companions/paid for those exact seats etc)

I've lost track of whether it was the 3 year old or 4 year old who was crying but why are you referring to them now as a baby?

This whole thread is very strange.

I've lost track of whether it was the 3 year old or 4 year old who was crying

That's the problem with OP making the whole thing up and not keeping notes: the story gets confused because they're confused.

Still, we've had some interesting insights into staff rate travel, into luggage policies and a few other "behind the scenes" things. Thanks to aircrew posters!

Completely off topic but those that have been in upstairs economy is it worth the £25 for middle seats and £60 for twin seats up there

I suppose it depends on. How many are traveling. Of o we're going alone with DH I would pay for upper deck economy on the 2 class as it would give us 2 seats and no strangers. If there were 3 or 4 I would t pay extra as the lower deck is 3:4:3 seating anyway. But definitely worth it if only 2 travellers.

*Why didn't the complainant just swap with the aunt?

Surely that would have solved everything grin*

That was the common sense answer, but op then change the scenario from child wanting to sit with Auntie to the child wanted the whole family seated together

I thought it was an older child in earlier posts. How come it's now a 'crying baby'?

The auntie is making a complaint about another person’s booking. I don’t see that having any success. She must have chosen to get off the plane, since the staff would not have linked her with the party on a separate booking and in a different part of the plane. Unless she kicked up a fuss, in which case the captain may have decided it would be quicker to throw the lot of them off to avoid delaying the plane. I’m still curious to know whether the child had their seatbelt fastened (of course now that it has become a sleeping baby this may not be so important). Maybe someone could prepare a simple timeline of the events and characters so the OP can keep her story consistent?

I love how every little update the OP either drip feeds, contradicts something she said earlier or changes tactic in order to have the most fun with the thread that they can. Top trolling!

Bloody hell, is this one still going?