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#31
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Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way
William Black wrote:
"tim....." wrote in message ... "William Black" wrote in message ... [] Mind you, flying from India a couple of times makes you check everything as a matter of routine because, well, people make mistakes... I think you're in the minority. I got from the desk, through passport control, security and to the final gate without realising the numpty on the desk had given me someone else's (business class) pass. That's quite possible. On the other hand I fly often enough to be careful, and so far, am grateful that myself, my wife and all the baggage have, for the past three years or so, turned up on time... Things like baggage turning up on time are usually out of your control, so that's luck more than anything else. -- (*) of the royal duchy of city south and deansgate -www.davidhorne.net (email address on website) "If people think God is interesting, the onus is on them to show that there is anything there to talk about. Otherwise they should just shut up about it." -Richard Dawkins |
#32
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Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way
"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in message ... William Black wrote: "tim....." wrote in message ... "William Black" wrote in message ... [] Mind you, flying from India a couple of times makes you check everything as a matter of routine because, well, people make mistakes... I think you're in the minority. I got from the desk, through passport control, security and to the final gate without realising the numpty on the desk had given me someone else's (business class) pass. That's quite possible. On the other hand I fly often enough to be careful, and so far, am grateful that myself, my wife and all the baggage have, for the past three years or so, turned up on time... Things like baggage turning up on time are usually out of your control, so that's luck more than anything else. I know. And what's more I know the odds are starting to lengthen... -- William Black I've seen things you people wouldn't believe. Barbeques on fire by the chalets past the castle headland I watched the gift shops glitter in the darkness off the Newborough gate All these moments will be lost in time, like icecream on the beach Time for tea. |
#33
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Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way
it's not entirely unbelievable that they thought Bodrum was just the airport 'on Lanzarote' that they were flying to. I can see myself blundering into exactly the mistake you described. Of course, I also look at the postings at the gate, the departure board, etc.; but we can also think of cases where the airport doesn't have the city's name in its name and the three-letter code bears at best an obscure relationship to either one. Maybe they figured Senor Bodrum was some luminary of Lanzarote and they'd renamed the airport after him. This is no doubt why both gate agents and flight attendants customarily announce the destination. But then, people pay notoriously little attention to these announcements (especially if they're dead-on-their-feet tired and/or distracted by family travel)? One Delta flight attendant in Atlanta tried to make it stand out, and succeeded: "If your plans for this evening do not take place in San Francisco, you are on the wrong aircraft and this is your last chance to get out." (Don't get me started on the auditory clutter of both concourses and cabins, a combination of mealymouthed standard verbiage; people who seem to be trying to auction something off (and/or lull you to sleep) rather than communicate; and endless-loop PA announcements (most about security) mandated by somebody who thought he was doing some good... all of them, all too often, made over a PA system that a burger joint wouldn't have for its drive-up window. It's a miracle anybody understands any of it. /rant) The system is fallible. Twice I've been on a plane when it was discovered en route that someone was on board who shouldn't have been. One was an older gent who had stayed on board instead of getting off and making a connection. The airline was quite chagrined at this discovery, since aside from all the reasons you don't want to send somebody's grandpa to the wrong city, it implied that their through-count was wrong and nobody noticed. (Or they forgot to take one -- it would've occurred before I boarded.) The gate agents were, I think, in the clear -- he was supposed to be on that plane, just not to *stay* on it for the second leg; and as for his absence from the other plane, well, no-show passengers are a frequent and unremarkable occurrence; at least in USAmerican domestic travel, they page you a couple of times and unless you've checked luggage before disappearing, or otherwise done something suspicious, somebody gets called from the standby list and that's that. I'm not sure how the other occasion arose, but it resulted in a kid in perhaps his early teens, unaccompanied, going to the wrong airport in the Los Angeles area, one a long way from where he was ticketed to go. My impression was of a poor kid who did not have much experience with air travel. A lot of discussion with the flight crew and pondering of the timetable revealed that he was pretty much out of luck that night for connections. I think they ended up calling a cab at company expense for him, and informing the people waiting for him at the intended airport of what had happened. Like all the works of man, the system for making sure everybody is on the right aircraft has flaws, and people's application of it deteriorates over time... --Joe |
#34
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Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way
David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*) wrote:
Shawn Hirn wrote: [] Mistakes happen, but I am surprised no one in that family bothered to actually read their boarding passes when they received them. They claimed to have done that, but said that it simply said "Bodrum" and they didn't know it was in Turkey. They knew they were going to Lanzarote, but it's not entirely unbelievable that they thought Bodrum was just the airport 'on Lanzarote' that they were flying to. I worked at a company where there was an important meeting scheduled in Taipei. The VP or marketing and VP of sales were both going. The VP of marketing couldn't find his passport so he couldn't go. The VP of sales was given a boarding pass for a flight to Shanghai and didn't realize the problem until they were airborne. Needless to say, that company is out of business. |
#35
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Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way
Booooring
"Gregory Morrow" a écrit dans le message de m... "Chad and Olga Chu-Choo" wrote: From The Times July 22, 2008 Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way Jack Malvern A family setting off on a five-star holiday travelled 2,000 miles out of their way after they were given boarding passes for the wrong flight. Charlie Coray, his wife, Tania, and daughter, Phoebe, 9, were caught in a mix-up at a check-in desk before their week's holiday in the Canary Islands.The family realised the mistake only after the plane landed and the air stewardess announced: "Welcome to Turkey". An investigation was started after it emerged that the family were given the wrong boarding passes at Cardiff airport for their holiday ----------------------- GM replies: And here all along I thought these sorts of cock - ups normally happened only at Manchester, viz...: http://www.airlinequality.com/main/forum.htm http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/malta.htm AIR MALTA review : 22 July 2008 : by M Willis "My friend and I experienced severe delays travelling with this airline via Lat Charter. We travelled from Manchester/Corfu return. The outbound leg was delayed by hours and once on board we were told it was due to cabin crew going sick at the last minute. The return journey was hell. On arrival at check in at 18.00 hrs local time we were greeted with a sign on the desk advising of an approx 6 hour delay. This transpired into excess of 10 hours, finally departing at 4.40am local time. The reasons were explained again on board the aircraft this time being due to technical failure of the aircraft the day before, and in addition having to wait in Corfu for the airport in Venice to open at 06.00am to land for fuel en route to Manchester. In addition to this massive inconvenience there was no meal service on board on either flight, only bacon rolls on offer which had to be paid for. I would not recommend anyone to book a cheap ticket with this airline...." http://www.airlinequality.com/Forum/turkish.htm TURKISH AIRLINES review : 15 July 2008 : by A Ahmed "MAN-IST round Trip. The plane hadn't been cleaned properly. Food one of the plus points, was quite good - Turkish on the way there and more standard European food on the way back. There are two choices usually chicken or pasta and whilst all meals are halal, no vegetarian option seems to be offered. The main problem were Turkish Airlines staff. The male stewards were by in large friendly and helpful. The stewardesses however on both flights, were moody, and unapproachable - God help you if you're a muslim woman wearing headscarf though, I was travelling with my mum and sister, the stewardesses seemed to take exception to this and as a result seemed to treat them with contempt and rudeness. This blatant prejudice, has put me off flying with them again. All staff on the flight had a poor grasp of English, speaking with little clarity - announcements were rarely understood. Also they seem to have a problem understanding that some people take milk with their tea, I know its not the done thing in Turkey, but one would assume they are well travelled personnel and should be used to such requests. Turkish Airlines have the equipment and means to be a good airline, but are let down by staff who spoil an otherwise good journey. They are a poor reflection on the Star Alliance, if this is the quality of service they deem satisfactory..." / -- Best Greg " I find Greg Morrow lowbrow, witless, and obnoxious. For him to claim that we are some kind of comedy team turns my stomach." - "cybercat" to me on rec.food.cooking |
#36
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Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way
On Jul 23, 11:59 am, "Ian F." wrote:
"David Horne, _the_ chancellor (*)" wrote in . uk... People must fly to places like Santorini on charter flights all the time and not have a clue about the trigraph. I know it's JTR, but I'm a bit of a geek... I'm puzzled as to why the tearing-off-the-boarding-pass staff at the gate didn't spot it. I guess they don't look that closely all the time. A few years ago, my partner was en route to Washington DC and managed to get on the wrong plane - there were two flights to DC leaving (I think) LHR at around the same time. To be fair, the airline took the failure of their system very seriously in that case. |
#37
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Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way
On Tue, 22 Jul 2008 07:51:48 -0700 (PDT), Chad and Olga Chu-Choo
wrote: http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/tra...cle4374973.ece From The Times July 22, 2008 Family is flown 2,000 miles the wrong way Jack Malvern A family setting off on a five-star holiday travelled 2,000 miles out of their way after they were given boarding passes for the wrong flight. Charlie Coray, his wife, Tania, and daughter, Phoebe, 9, were caught in a mix-up at a check-in desk before their week's holiday in the Canary Islands.The family realised the mistake only after the plane landed and the air stewardess announced: “Welcome to Turkey”. Where these people in a deep coma from the moment they entered the airport? Or functionally illiterate, dyslexic or some other thing that prevented them from noticing what was printed on the boarding pass, announced on the tannoy, probably listed at the gate etc? I continue to wonder how such people manage to produce children, let alone eat without harming themselves. I thought we Americans had the world lock on bone stupid people who gave up all ability to think/read/reason in some distant past..seems we have competition. Jim P. |
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