Pay for fuel or you dont fly.

[drron]

This one must have been missed by the Aussie media-
Airline passengers asked for extra cash for fuel - USATODAY.com

Hundreds of passengers traveling from India to Britain were stranded Thursday in Amritsar, India, by the charter airline Comtel, which was asking them to kick in money to cover the cost of fuel and fees.
Passengers will not be allowed to leave for Britain unless they pay 10,000 rupees (about $200) each, Bhupinder Kandra, the airline's majority shareholder, told the BBC.
It was not clear if the passengers were stranded on the plane or at the airport.
But that incident came just days after 180 other travelers flying the same route were stranded on a Comtel plane at a layover in Vienna until they could raise more than 20,000 pounds ($31,000) to fund the rest of the flight to Birmingham, England

Someone got it on video-
Passengers 'held to ransom' by airline - Channel 4 News

I can only assume there was a lot of head bobbing going on!

 

[JohnK]

Some of these stories are simply unbelievable.

 

[tuapekastar]

It's easy in hindsight (and without being weary and under pressure) but I would have simply disembarked and got myself home another way. Now, the obvious problem with that statement is that if I was in a position to have to fly the charter airline in question it is entirely possible I may not have had ready access to cash to get me back to BHX another way. But if I didn't have that cash, then how would I stump up my share of the fuel money, which at GBP630 sounds like probably more than a last minute airfare VIE-England (though I wouldn't really know)?

Its bizarre, marching people off to ATMs to withdraw money sounds like Mafia territory.

And the last comment on the video that it appears to have happened again should prompt some official intervention somewhere. You would think.

 

[Simo]

It would be a bit like a WTF moment when you heard the announcement over the PA...

 

[oz_mark]

...and people complain about QF's fuel surcharges :shock:

 

[straitman]

...and people complain about QF's fuel surcharges :shock:

At least Qantas rip you off at the time of booking rather than waiting until you are on board :!:

 

[BAM1748]

Not the first time this has happened, Aeroflot has had to do a whip around in the past, fuel, airport fees and parts. But it was back in the days during their dismantling into the smaller companies and I guess confusion and a shortage of hard currency reigned supreme.

 

[dajop]

And if you look on FT, there are a few other Indian airlines [eg Air India, Kingfisher] who simply have their fleets grounded for a period of time as fuel providers refuse to pump fuel until they are paid. But this situations sounds different to that, as it seems that the airline hadn't been paid by the TA (as indicated by the pilots holding the money even after arriving in London, as opposed to handing it over to the airport/fuel company).

 

[harvyk]

as it seems that the airline hadn't been paid by the TA

If I was running an airline, the first rule is no booking is confirmed until we get paid... Why would an airline take off without being fully paid? It's not like they can reprocess a flight.

 

[Moopere]

You'd have to worry about how the aircraft has been maintained if the operating company is this cash strapped wouldn't you?

Like Tuapekastar above, I'd have been off that flight pretty darn quickly, bags in hand, looking for a safer way home.