Virgin Australia forces a man to stand on transcon flight.

[blu]

First World Problem there - buying the cheapest fare you're not willing to travel on.

 

[Jack_OC]

Given that he has limited ability to bend his right leg and is 6ft 4" tall it would appear that he has either jagged an exit row Y seat a Row 3 Y seat or an upgrade to J on every previous VA flight. In this case - it sounds like something went wrong with the J upgrade or Y exit row request.

Surely his disability means he wouldn't be allowed in an exit row? Which leaves me wondering as well - what seat would have worked other than J?

 

[Mwenenzi]

Given that he has limited ability to bend his right leg and is 6ft 4" tall it would appear that he has either jagged an exit row Y seat a Row 3 Y seat or an upgrade to J on every previous VA flight. In this case - it sounds like something went wrong with the J upgrade or Y exit row request.

I have doubts he would be considered suitable for an exit row seat.

 

[Jack_OC]

I have doubts he would be considered suitable for an exit row seat.

Great minds think alike! This is a plausible explanation for his claim that there were suitable seats available, but the CSM wouldn't let him sit in them.

 

[JohnPhelan]

Exactly where was he seated for take-off and landing? He certainly wasn't standing up!!

 

[Jack_OC]

Exactly where was he seated for take-off and landing? He certainly wasn't standing up!!

Presumably back in the seat where his leg was sticking out into the aisle - wouldn't really be a problem when everyone is confined to their seats.

 

[knasty]

According to the 'exclusive' I saw last night he normally upgrades to J using points but his upgrade request was denied pre-flight. Onboard he says he offered to pay to use a vacant J seat but they refused. They gave him 3 seats in Y but not appropriate...sounds like VA genuinely tried to help but wouldn't give an onboard op-up, understandably. I wonder how he would have fared if he had bothered to include special assistance info on the booking? Probably better I.guess.

 

[esquire]

Whilst it does sound a little sensationalist - it could be the media making it more 'interesting'. There appears to be a few on here going for the jugular - but I suspect both sides are missing details. From my experience with VA they are not good at PR when things go wrong and he doesn't appear to be threatening VA for compensation or tribunal etc - which is usually more associated with JQ bad news media coverage.

We do know is he was on a PER-BNE red-eye on a 737. That alone would be hell enough for me!

Does VA hold that he had a disability on his VFF profile- especially given he is a WP? I have a disabled colleague who uses QF and he can book normally online with his QFF number and it is recognised in the seating plan closer to the travel day or do VA's systems still a require a request every booking?

 

[JohnK]

He expects to be able to upgrade to business on each flight?

I think you will be disappointed occasionally.