Virgin Blue, seats and water issues.

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Access to water may not be a basic human right in the original UN Declaration of Human Rights, however the right to food, sanitation and water for essential human health has been adopted as a human right via a resolution which was passed by the Assembly in July 2010 (although it had been instituted in other conventions earlier, thus essentially ingratiating itself as a human right and into the national laws of relevant signatories if not formally then de facto).

However, this is all irrelevant. Even if the OP could not get water on a plane other than by purchasing it, that is not a deprivation of a right per se.

The quality of water I would assume from galley dispensers must be potable in some shape or form, otherwise I don't see why someone can't be taking samples of that water, testing it and making a generous dollar out of the airlines for serving water which is less than desirable quality (i.e. affecting human health). In saying that, I think the water in the galleys (viz. used) is just the tap water from the local area (assuming that the tap water is drinkable), because if I have a cup of tea on board from some locations I can taste things like chlorine. This is, of course, notwithstanding the quality of water fittings on the aircraft (i.e. pipes, containers, spouts, etc.).


All of this still doesn't quite get to the point as to why the OP couldn't be offered a humble cup of water from a galley dispenser (which supposedly has a source of water and is water that is drinkable)?

Now that I re-read the OP, when "tap water" was said did the FAs think that the basin tap water in the bathrooms was implied, and therefore said the water is undrinkable? They would probably be right, but they probably then didn't think that "tap water" as said by the OP was supposed to be the water they would dispense in the galley e.g. for making water-based hot beverages.

Hey, to clarify I just asked for a glass of water, they went to get me a bottle of water and I said no it's cool I just want a glass of tap water.

As for this being a one off I'm not the first one to be angry about this .....

Virgin Blue calls the cops on annoyed customer – Plane Talking
 
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that is your personal opinion Mal, I have never had a problem with the taste and never gotten sick from drinking tap water on a plane, I have no doubt modern engineering can and has overcome the problem of bacteria growth, ie UV light sterilisation. There is no reason other than increasing profits that tap water should not be served on planes imho


Fly Qantas the water is plentiful and free!
 
Ask for crew water, or better just grab it yourself! On Virgin 737 flights its in the rear galley, centre compartment at the top. Same as the ones for sale, just bigger. :p

I've been offered it many times on boarding with a welcome, but then again, thats due to status.

i think you'll find if you go helping yourself to items in the galley, esp opening compartments etc, the crew won't take too kindly to that !!
 
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i think you'll find if you go helping yourself to items in the galley, esp opening compartments etc, the crew won't take too kindly to that !!

Liam's comment may have been tongue-in-cheek considering he has DJ FA friends, and has spent a lot of time in the air being a child :p
 
I realise it's been a few months since the last post here, but there were a couple of questions that went unanswered by others, and I feel I may be able to help! :)

Regarding exit rows and being able to recline:

During take-off and landing, the rows with exit doors need to be kept as accessible as possible (thus no bags, and no-one is permitted to recline back into the extra room, as this can block the exit). For example:

In a DJ 738, where there are two rows of over-wing exits (eg 14 & 15):

Row 13 can't recline (leans back into an exit - 14)
Row 14 can't recline (leans back into an exit - 15)
Row 15 CAN recline (although an exit row, by reclining they aren't blocking an exit, therefore it is fine)

In this case, the seats on DJ in rows 13 & 14 have no recline button, however other airlines (eg. Qantas) choose to pay a tad extra for seats that can be locked upright during take-off and landing, and can then be unlocked and able to recline for the rest of the flight.

Regarding provision of drinking water:

I hold a current RSA (Responsible Service of Alcohol) qualification in Queensland, and at the time I completed it, we were informed that in Qld, drinking water must be available wherever alcohol is sold - however the price of which must not exceed that of the smallest sized soft drink available from the same location. As far as we were informed, nowhere in the legislation requires licensed venues to provide free access to drinking water - only just that they at least offer it for sale... Many businesses do choose to freely offer water, although (apparently) charging for it is not illegal.

Of course, these are the words of our (qualified) instructor, but if anyone can find any legislation to prove otherwise I'm happy to admit defeat haha! :)
 
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I have a query and comment about Virgin domestic seats...I have travelled a number of times with Virgin recently and could not move my seatback at all. All different flights (Newcastle, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane departures ). Originally, I thought it was that I backed on to an exit row, but I queried attendants who said that the particular flight I was on was 'rushed' into service and the recliner funtion did not get installed. They didn't seem to consider for a moment the effect on me the passenger. Completely irrelevant. Of course, being a Virgin frequent flier means nothing in terms of airline sensitivity or consideration, it's all 'earn those points with us'. Maybe they 'rushed' all their planes into service as all my flights had the same problem. I don't want to recline, just reduce the forward tilt of the seat a little as I have a bad back which gets much worse with immobile seats. Can anyone confirm that Virgin are moving towards fixed seats on their flights? If so, why haven't they mentioned this so vulnerable people know before the flight and why would they do this if they are seriously trying to take on Qantas domestically? Ho hum! :(
 
Re above, I think the crew sold you a furphy with that story. The seats are either installed as reclining seats or not. Don't think there Is such a thing as installing recline function later. Sometimes however crew will tell you the first thing that pops into their head if they don't know the answer or just want to excuse themselves from your company. I've yet to encounter an aircraft on DJ without reclining seats (excluding the exit rows mentioned above), but been on plenty where the gas struts are worn out, and hence the reason why they dont move when you press the button. Also DJ seats have only ever reclined about an inch, not more than that.
 
Edited for clarity - Yet to encounter a DJ aircraft that had seats installed without a recline function. Excluding the specific rows mentioned. As the recline is minor anyway you would hardly notice the difference between an unreclined seat and one stuck in the reclined position due to a worn gas strut. Therefore it's easy to assume that a lack of movement when the pushing the button means the seat has no recline function, when ts actually lost the function to be fully upright.
 
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