Business class on these short European flights is as pathetic as it is in Australia, The middle seat is quarantined by a tray, but the seats are just the same as the rest of the plane.
Sometimes on YouTube or Facebook you see videos of people behaving badly on aeroplanes. Usually they are from the US, where behaving badly appears to be a new art form – just look to their president. Mostly I have presumed many of these videos are staged.
I now have first hand experience on my BA flight from Amsterdam to Heathrow of aeroplane rage. It’s a thing, particularly for Americans.
An American family were involved – or at least a mum and dad. Apparently the staff at the gate took bags from the wife and son, and insisted they had to go in the hold because they were oversized. This is, I was told, done randomly by BA but the Caucasian husband claimed they had been selected because his wife and son were black. I would have said the wife was more of a coffee colour and the son didn’t appear to be a person of colour at all.
I don’t know what happened at the gate but I heard the wife had been taking photos of the gate staff claiming racial discrimination. Once on the plane the husband placed his large carry-on in a random overhead locker in business class so that he could return to the entry door to remonstrate with what I presumed was the female stewardess, demanding satisfaction. It was a loud argument and the stewardess was joined by the lady from the service desk who had taken the bags. Some of the other passengers offered to give the couple what they deserved,
The man asked the other passengers if anyone had their bags taken to the hold and several hands were raised, all white passengers. Undeterred this man carried on until the cockpit door opened and the captain materialised. He kicked the whole family off the plane and we had to wait until their bags were unloaded.
I provided my email to he stewardess as did several others in cast statements were required. The BA staff behaved with the utmost understanding and compassion but these two just wanted trouble.
Father M 