If someone does not do their job well, they should be punished accordingly. Even if someone else did it for them. But unfortunately, that often does not happen. Such is the case with me. In a very recent incident,
British Airways\’ flight from Prague to London was to be slightly delayed on July 4, which made connecting flights It should not have made it difficult to connect to connecting flights. Nor was it a very long delay. That is, until the first shenanigans occurred. The airline openly admitted that the plane was so full that the carry-on baggage could not fit. You would think that everything would be arranged to accommodate people with such carry-ons, and indeed it was. Unless you ignore the oversized baggage that clearly should not be brought on board. So it took some time for one of the passengers to raise the question of whether, out of the goodness of their hearts, they could check their carry-on baggage. As a result, delays increased significantly.
So we were very late at London Heathrow. If it had been Munich, I would have made it in time. But in London, it was different. After a long run around one of the terminals to get to the other terminal from which I was departing, I arrived at a locked glass door leading to a bus stop. The lock could only be opened by the bus driver upon arrival. And that was the beginning of the ride, but I was still standing in front of that door. I waited there for more than half an hour, not knowing how often the buses would pass there in the evening. And when I finally arrived at the next terminal after a long drive, it was already too late. And by the time I got through security, the exit to the plane should have been closed.
Still I ran as fast as I could. Without unbuckling my belt to make sure it was safe, with my pants down. And I ran. Too slow, but still. And I was lucky. The place was still open, and they were in the middle of an argument with the last group.
I ended up on the plane I was supposed to catch. And not in economy class, but in business class. And I flew.
And it turned out before I left. I should never have gotten on that plane in the first place. Apparently that plane was also overbooked, and I was issued an alternate ticket for the next day in a completely different direction before this departure. And apparently it was just a coincidence that there was a business seat left, and I was able to sit there. So I quite enjoyed the flight…
… And for a few minutes I lost 600 euros in compensation. If I had been just a little bit of a jerk, I would have stayed overnight in London at their expense and flown home a day later. And they collected the compensation because they could not depart on time due to their own mistake. For congestion.
If only we knew. If only I knew in advance how long it would take me to change planes in London and when I would have to admit that I would not make it because of them…
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