Originally published at: http://boingboing.net/2017/08/21/british-airways-forces-man-to.html
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Look buddy, feel lucky they didn’t beat you within an inch of your life and chuck you out the airlock.
Progress! Winning!
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I wonder what they’d do if you simply picked up your stuff and moved to the free seat. Force them to send a goon, and record the encounter on your cellphone. Because I am sure as fuck not sitting in piss the whole flight. If ever there were a reason to start screaming at a flight attendant, this is it.
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Urine soaked seat? Some people would pay extra for this.
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Rule 34.
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According to Libertarian theory, horrible experiences like this will cause customers to abandon the unresponsive company, and the bad company will then either fail, or fix its unfriendly practices. It’s magic, the perfect hand of the market makes everything work better.
In reality, the airlines are a fine example of how market forces do not work to improve the customer experience. The seats get smaller, the amenities get shittier, the service personnel get nastier, all because the company is focused mainly on extracting the last penny out of the customer, rather than improving the process in a customer friendly way.
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It’s also because so many passengers just look at the price and pick the cheapest ticket. This forces airlines to cut corners to remain competitive.
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Weird. BA is usually much better at service than this. That’s why every globetrotter I’ve asked (thus far) recommends them for long hauls.
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Well, that really takes the piss, doesn’t it?
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There’s “cutting corners” and then there’s being unsustainably unethical, especially in a industry that involves life safety.
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It wasn’t until he tweeted about it later that he received some points from the airline.
That settles that…
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Could it be that people who work for airlines haven’t yet learned of the Internet? Are they unaware that their slights, gaffes, and insults will soon become common knowledge?
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Can we have a little compassion for the poor stewardess here? No wonder she had no patience for this guy’s complaints considering how she just finished a flight in which another annoying passenger wouldn’t stop begging her to be allowed to use the restroom. You can only take so much.
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Except that seating is limited. IANAAA (I Am Not An Airline Anything) but at some point the prices do go up based on demand so the better airlines might wait an extra week to fill their seats but they should be able to do so at a reasonable profit.
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Actually, since deregulation, the airlines have been gradually evolving a system where the things that used to be taken for granted now have to be paid extra for. Simple things like a seat that would fit the average human ass now require an upgraded ticket. The proletariat gets crammed unmercifully and yelled at by harried workers, while the wealthy enjoy comfy seats and white gloved attendants catering to their desire for a fresh hot towel.
You are correct that competition for customers is a factor, but it is a race to the bottom, rather than a race to higher quality and better service. Deregulation allowed the minimum required standards to be degraded in the interest of squeezing in more customers at a cheaper price.
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I think the president did.
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At least it wasn’t #2.
Gad, I can’t imagine. I really can’t imagine. I would have started yelling, and probably would been beaten up, arrested, then thrown out the airlock. Not necessarily in that order.
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Cor!!!
Actually, it’s more fun when doing it on the sly.
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This can’t possibly be an uncommon occurrence. That hardly makes it okay, of course.
Oh no no no.
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