(Caveat: Mods, if this is too much info or similar please advise me and i'll review it; I am simply stating my experiences of my trip which others may find interesting, and I purposely did not mention the production involved with said pax) that said, on to the story..
Whilst I don't usually do trip reports (and as a general rule, suck at making them riveting), I will for this after a series of interesting events on my flights.
So without any further ado, here goes.
Flight One: MEL-SIN (QF9 A380)
Seat: 80A
This was my first time in taking a long haul (well, relatively long haul) in a window seat. Whilst it's the 'magic' seat for leg room in Y on an A380, I was still dubious. I'm now happy to report, that it is *the* seat to have. I will outline why now.
Upon boarding, nothing special happened. I walked to the depths of hell (also known as the rear Y cabin of an A380) to find my seat, and indeed my row, empty and waiting. I was pleasantly surprised with the seat, and after stowing all my junk, took my seat. I knew by looking at EF that the B seat was going to be empty, and a young lass took her seat in 80C. Sure enough, 80B remained empty.
I settled in for the 8 or so hours ahead to SIN, and a gentleman sat down in 79B, quite obviously a regular traveller (you know, you can just tell sometimes). Shortly before we were due to take off, a gentleman was 'escorted' to 79C, from a forward Y cabin. There were some semi-heated words between said escort-er (in this case, the cabin manager) and the pax. I didn't hear the original conversation nor what was going on, but it was fairly apparent there had been some altercation between the CM and the pax (and possibly other pax).
The gentleman was, to put it nicely, very 'okka'. Every other word was 'F' or 'S'. He was making a big deal during the taxi to the cabin crew member seated in his seat that it was his first time leaving the NT, and kept asking if he could put up his AVOD to watch. At one stage, before we even started the take off roll, he was already asking for a drink. He was also constantly stating that he was on a TV Show (I won't say which one, it's on a US network though), but after searching online, I can't see him on the cast list (claimed to be one of the 'stars').
Now, this guy appeared to be possibly slightly intoxicated. You know how some people are though with their colourful language. Often they do not need alcohol to act drunk, and this was borderline.
OK so to the fun part. Shortly after the seatbelt light went off, the man became even more animated, and was asking for a beverage of the alcoholic variety. From what I can gather, the CM had denied him a beverage prior to take off (which of course, no one is entitled to in Y anyway) and when the drinks cart came around prior to the meal being served, the cabin crew denied him a drink, stating he should have known as the CM said they would not be serving him a drink due to RSA. This is where the 'F's and 'S's became 'C's, to female cabin crew no less. To their credit the QF crew were nothing but professional, but this guy kept at it. The 2-I-C came back (a female) and started to have words with him. He then claimed to be denied a drink based on being Aboriginal (he was loudly stating he was a 'F'ing elder and it was racial vilification and as he was the only Aboriginal on the plane, he was being denied a drink). Whilst all this is going on, the man in 79B was either having issues with his IFE or pretending to. After several headphone changes (I'm guessing he was just trying to be discreet about getting moved), the CSM did indeed move him (not upstairs though, as J/W and even F were 100% full) to another exit row. The lass in 80C was also getting a little upset and worried as the man became more and more animated, so quietly requested to move and did. This left me to observe all by myself (with the bonus of a nice row to myself too).
After the other two pax had moved, he got even more irate stating he had been isolated which was increasing said vilification. He then started to demand to speak to the captain and to 'talk to your 'F'ing staff on the ground and get me an 'F'ing drink'. He also stated that in the 24 hours he had been in Melbourne he'd been arrested by the AFP and detained in MEL and spoken to by the airport manager. All this leads me to wonder, why on earth was he granted a boarding pass?
Anyway, he then started to try and use the sat phone (which either was not working or he couldn't figure out, i'm not sure) to call his lawyer. He got sparked up again when the 2IC came back, and sat and talked to him. Accusations of 'white man raping Australian land' started flying, and 'White 'C's' were being spoken, very loudly. It was at that stage he started to declare that he studied law (and apparently purchasing an air fare is a contract to a service which includes free booze, and QF would be sued for all its cash because they were in breach of contract as he kept re-itterating!), and he was going to be arrested in SIN so he wanted to speak to his lawyers, and wanted the address for the QF office in SIN so he could go and make a formal complaint and that the 2IC and CM would 'never fly again' based on him being an elder. He then said that QF would never 'land on my land again'.
This dragged on for around 4 hours, during which I simply observed and said nothing. I did offer very discreetly to the crew to sign a statement saying they were nothing but professional and that no vilification was made (they didn't say a thing wrong, and it was not obvious that the man was Aboriginal). He then went quiet, and it was an uneventful remainder of the flight. During the proceedings the 2IC came and said hello and apologised for not welcoming me on board earlier, and asked if there was anything she could to to try and make my flight more peaceful, apologising that she couldn't move me upstairs as it was full.
Upon leaving the plane in SIN, the captain, FO, CM and 2IC were all huddled in the entrance to F in the galley, waiting for him to approach, where he was quietly escorted for 'a quick chat' with people. I saw him being spoken to just outside the jetbridge, but the officials were quickly directing people in the other direction. No idea what happened from there, but based on his behaviour, i'm amazed that something more 'official' didn't meet him at the gate. One of my most eventful flights ever!
Then, off to the F (well, what was the F) lounge for a quick nibble and wait for my connecting A380.
Flight Two: SIN-LHR (QF1 A380)
Seat: 33G
After having stayed awake on flight one, I was looking forward to passing out on my flight up to LHR. I knew that 33F was going to be empty, so was all happy.
The boarding announcement was made, and of course, the gate was the furthest possible from the lounge in T1. After what seemed an eternity, I arrived at the gate. I went to board, and was quickly stopped, along with all the other lounge refugees. We were advised there was a technical issue, and we were all sent to the boarding gate to wait.
About 30 minutes later we were told there was a problem with one of the doors on the main deck of the A380, and they were investigating. 15 minutes or so later they informed us that they were moving people in rows 48 through 60 would all be moved as the door was not functioning. My immediate concern was 'what the hell?' but upon further thinking, i'm guessing they couldn't open the door, so in the event of an emergency, they needed people closer to functioning doors. Fortunately, my empty seat remained although the lower deck all filled up in the rear of the cabin. I didn't venture down there (the gate at the top of the stairs was closed) to look though, but i'm sure there would have been some annoyed people.
Landing into LHR was obviously delayed, but with a 5 1/2 hour layover to make it to LGW, I was not stressed.
Flight Three: LHR-JER
Seat: 11C (BA2772 737)
So, it turns out that the Channel Islands had seen some of the worst weather in history, and after a massive blizzard of snow on Jersey, the airport was closed for almost 3 days. I was scheduled to be on the first flight to arrive to JER after the airport re-opened.
The original ETA for departure was 1150, which quickly ended up being around 1330 whilst they waited for confirmation that the airport would indeed open (it was reported by the airport they anticipated the airport re-opening at 2pm). We boarded and the captain came out into the cabin and said to us all that we were going to depart as he was 99% sure that we would be good to land. Push back, take off was all good.
We did a loop of JER to land, and we did a missed approach as we were going down. The Capatin advised us that the cross winds were too high for us to land, and we were around 500kg over the max landing weight for landing in the given conditions. We stayed up there for another 15 minutes or so, and were then advised the wind had not died down, so we diverted to Dinard in France (around 40 or so miles from JER). So, a quick 35 minute flight turned into a trip to France, although the authories 'preferred if we waited on board' according to the captain, so we waited on the apron there for an hour or so, whilst we re-fueled and waited for the weather in JER to settle down. Eventually, we got the A-OK, took off, and made it to JER after around a 12 minute flight (It was strange to hear 'Cabin Crew, 5 minutes to landing' as we were still climbing. So, I've now taken my shortest ever flight: DNR-JER 43 miles in a 737!.
All credit to the captain, he kept us amazingly well informed, and the crew were sensational. We even made it to the news: BBC News - Power restored to majority of homes after snowfall cut supplies
Flight Four: JER-LHR
Seat: 11C (BA2769 737)
Push back 5 minutes early, quick taxi and take off. 34 minute flight. Everything was looking great. I guess at that stage, I should have known things would turn south.
Upon landing at LGW, the captain informed us that one of the a/c in the North terminal had broken a tow bar whislt being towed and there was congestion backing up. It took almost 30 minutes to get to the gate. A quick deplane. We walked downstairs, and were bussed to a terminal and arrivals in to the baggage hall. Now, this is where it went more south.
Arriving into a fairly empty hall with 2 baggage carousels. There were boards up with what flights were arriving on which carousel, and our flight was not listed. 10 minutes, no updates. 15, 20, 25. Nothing. 30 minutes after landing we were told that the bags were being unloaded and would be with us soon. 35, 40, 45 minutes. A further announcement that 'bags off the recently arrived flight from Jersey are stuck on the apron due to congestion'. It was raining, and bags were getting nice and wet.
Eventually, over an hour and a half after we landed, our bags came out. Now it cost me cash. I had a booked mini cab that had been waiting since the scheduled arrival time. The mini cab only allows for 1 hour of waiting time from the actual landing of the plane, which means I had to cough up another £30 for parking and waiting time. The driver was very angry at me for taking so long (and his english was very very poor, trying to explain that I don't control baggage or airplanes was beyond him). Then, at our destination (A hotel in central London) he couldn't find it as his sat nav had sent him up the wrong end of the street (The hotel, the Andaz, is on Liverpool street which has a break in the middle which you can't drive through). He then accused me of now knowing where I was going. That was a little rich
So, there's 4 of the 6. Here's hoping the return to Australia is a little smoother (although my seat map is looking pretty full to SIN, so here's crossing fingers for an elusive op-up!).
Whilst I don't usually do trip reports (and as a general rule, suck at making them riveting), I will for this after a series of interesting events on my flights.
So without any further ado, here goes.
Flight One: MEL-SIN (QF9 A380)
Seat: 80A
This was my first time in taking a long haul (well, relatively long haul) in a window seat. Whilst it's the 'magic' seat for leg room in Y on an A380, I was still dubious. I'm now happy to report, that it is *the* seat to have. I will outline why now.
Upon boarding, nothing special happened. I walked to the depths of hell (also known as the rear Y cabin of an A380) to find my seat, and indeed my row, empty and waiting. I was pleasantly surprised with the seat, and after stowing all my junk, took my seat. I knew by looking at EF that the B seat was going to be empty, and a young lass took her seat in 80C. Sure enough, 80B remained empty.
I settled in for the 8 or so hours ahead to SIN, and a gentleman sat down in 79B, quite obviously a regular traveller (you know, you can just tell sometimes). Shortly before we were due to take off, a gentleman was 'escorted' to 79C, from a forward Y cabin. There were some semi-heated words between said escort-er (in this case, the cabin manager) and the pax. I didn't hear the original conversation nor what was going on, but it was fairly apparent there had been some altercation between the CM and the pax (and possibly other pax).
The gentleman was, to put it nicely, very 'okka'. Every other word was 'F' or 'S'. He was making a big deal during the taxi to the cabin crew member seated in his seat that it was his first time leaving the NT, and kept asking if he could put up his AVOD to watch. At one stage, before we even started the take off roll, he was already asking for a drink. He was also constantly stating that he was on a TV Show (I won't say which one, it's on a US network though), but after searching online, I can't see him on the cast list (claimed to be one of the 'stars').
Now, this guy appeared to be possibly slightly intoxicated. You know how some people are though with their colourful language. Often they do not need alcohol to act drunk, and this was borderline.
OK so to the fun part. Shortly after the seatbelt light went off, the man became even more animated, and was asking for a beverage of the alcoholic variety. From what I can gather, the CM had denied him a beverage prior to take off (which of course, no one is entitled to in Y anyway) and when the drinks cart came around prior to the meal being served, the cabin crew denied him a drink, stating he should have known as the CM said they would not be serving him a drink due to RSA. This is where the 'F's and 'S's became 'C's, to female cabin crew no less. To their credit the QF crew were nothing but professional, but this guy kept at it. The 2-I-C came back (a female) and started to have words with him. He then claimed to be denied a drink based on being Aboriginal (he was loudly stating he was a 'F'ing elder and it was racial vilification and as he was the only Aboriginal on the plane, he was being denied a drink). Whilst all this is going on, the man in 79B was either having issues with his IFE or pretending to. After several headphone changes (I'm guessing he was just trying to be discreet about getting moved), the CSM did indeed move him (not upstairs though, as J/W and even F were 100% full) to another exit row. The lass in 80C was also getting a little upset and worried as the man became more and more animated, so quietly requested to move and did. This left me to observe all by myself (with the bonus of a nice row to myself too).
After the other two pax had moved, he got even more irate stating he had been isolated which was increasing said vilification. He then started to demand to speak to the captain and to 'talk to your 'F'ing staff on the ground and get me an 'F'ing drink'. He also stated that in the 24 hours he had been in Melbourne he'd been arrested by the AFP and detained in MEL and spoken to by the airport manager. All this leads me to wonder, why on earth was he granted a boarding pass?
Anyway, he then started to try and use the sat phone (which either was not working or he couldn't figure out, i'm not sure) to call his lawyer. He got sparked up again when the 2IC came back, and sat and talked to him. Accusations of 'white man raping Australian land' started flying, and 'White 'C's' were being spoken, very loudly. It was at that stage he started to declare that he studied law (and apparently purchasing an air fare is a contract to a service which includes free booze, and QF would be sued for all its cash because they were in breach of contract as he kept re-itterating!), and he was going to be arrested in SIN so he wanted to speak to his lawyers, and wanted the address for the QF office in SIN so he could go and make a formal complaint and that the 2IC and CM would 'never fly again' based on him being an elder. He then said that QF would never 'land on my land again'.
This dragged on for around 4 hours, during which I simply observed and said nothing. I did offer very discreetly to the crew to sign a statement saying they were nothing but professional and that no vilification was made (they didn't say a thing wrong, and it was not obvious that the man was Aboriginal). He then went quiet, and it was an uneventful remainder of the flight. During the proceedings the 2IC came and said hello and apologised for not welcoming me on board earlier, and asked if there was anything she could to to try and make my flight more peaceful, apologising that she couldn't move me upstairs as it was full.
Upon leaving the plane in SIN, the captain, FO, CM and 2IC were all huddled in the entrance to F in the galley, waiting for him to approach, where he was quietly escorted for 'a quick chat' with people. I saw him being spoken to just outside the jetbridge, but the officials were quickly directing people in the other direction. No idea what happened from there, but based on his behaviour, i'm amazed that something more 'official' didn't meet him at the gate. One of my most eventful flights ever!
Then, off to the F (well, what was the F) lounge for a quick nibble and wait for my connecting A380.
Flight Two: SIN-LHR (QF1 A380)
Seat: 33G
After having stayed awake on flight one, I was looking forward to passing out on my flight up to LHR. I knew that 33F was going to be empty, so was all happy.
The boarding announcement was made, and of course, the gate was the furthest possible from the lounge in T1. After what seemed an eternity, I arrived at the gate. I went to board, and was quickly stopped, along with all the other lounge refugees. We were advised there was a technical issue, and we were all sent to the boarding gate to wait.
About 30 minutes later we were told there was a problem with one of the doors on the main deck of the A380, and they were investigating. 15 minutes or so later they informed us that they were moving people in rows 48 through 60 would all be moved as the door was not functioning. My immediate concern was 'what the hell?' but upon further thinking, i'm guessing they couldn't open the door, so in the event of an emergency, they needed people closer to functioning doors. Fortunately, my empty seat remained although the lower deck all filled up in the rear of the cabin. I didn't venture down there (the gate at the top of the stairs was closed) to look though, but i'm sure there would have been some annoyed people.
Landing into LHR was obviously delayed, but with a 5 1/2 hour layover to make it to LGW, I was not stressed.
Flight Three: LHR-JER
Seat: 11C (BA2772 737)
So, it turns out that the Channel Islands had seen some of the worst weather in history, and after a massive blizzard of snow on Jersey, the airport was closed for almost 3 days. I was scheduled to be on the first flight to arrive to JER after the airport re-opened.
The original ETA for departure was 1150, which quickly ended up being around 1330 whilst they waited for confirmation that the airport would indeed open (it was reported by the airport they anticipated the airport re-opening at 2pm). We boarded and the captain came out into the cabin and said to us all that we were going to depart as he was 99% sure that we would be good to land. Push back, take off was all good.
We did a loop of JER to land, and we did a missed approach as we were going down. The Capatin advised us that the cross winds were too high for us to land, and we were around 500kg over the max landing weight for landing in the given conditions. We stayed up there for another 15 minutes or so, and were then advised the wind had not died down, so we diverted to Dinard in France (around 40 or so miles from JER). So, a quick 35 minute flight turned into a trip to France, although the authories 'preferred if we waited on board' according to the captain, so we waited on the apron there for an hour or so, whilst we re-fueled and waited for the weather in JER to settle down. Eventually, we got the A-OK, took off, and made it to JER after around a 12 minute flight (It was strange to hear 'Cabin Crew, 5 minutes to landing' as we were still climbing. So, I've now taken my shortest ever flight: DNR-JER 43 miles in a 737!.
All credit to the captain, he kept us amazingly well informed, and the crew were sensational. We even made it to the news: BBC News - Power restored to majority of homes after snowfall cut supplies
Flight Four: JER-LHR
Seat: 11C (BA2769 737)
Push back 5 minutes early, quick taxi and take off. 34 minute flight. Everything was looking great. I guess at that stage, I should have known things would turn south.
Upon landing at LGW, the captain informed us that one of the a/c in the North terminal had broken a tow bar whislt being towed and there was congestion backing up. It took almost 30 minutes to get to the gate. A quick deplane. We walked downstairs, and were bussed to a terminal and arrivals in to the baggage hall. Now, this is where it went more south.
Arriving into a fairly empty hall with 2 baggage carousels. There were boards up with what flights were arriving on which carousel, and our flight was not listed. 10 minutes, no updates. 15, 20, 25. Nothing. 30 minutes after landing we were told that the bags were being unloaded and would be with us soon. 35, 40, 45 minutes. A further announcement that 'bags off the recently arrived flight from Jersey are stuck on the apron due to congestion'. It was raining, and bags were getting nice and wet.
Eventually, over an hour and a half after we landed, our bags came out. Now it cost me cash. I had a booked mini cab that had been waiting since the scheduled arrival time. The mini cab only allows for 1 hour of waiting time from the actual landing of the plane, which means I had to cough up another £30 for parking and waiting time. The driver was very angry at me for taking so long (and his english was very very poor, trying to explain that I don't control baggage or airplanes was beyond him). Then, at our destination (A hotel in central London) he couldn't find it as his sat nav had sent him up the wrong end of the street (The hotel, the Andaz, is on Liverpool street which has a break in the middle which you can't drive through). He then accused me of now knowing where I was going. That was a little rich
So, there's 4 of the 6. Here's hoping the return to Australia is a little smoother (although my seat map is looking pretty full to SIN, so here's crossing fingers for an elusive op-up!).
