On Monday last I concluded a fantastic weekend at the 2011 Glastonbury Festival of contemporary performing arts with a day driving around Somerset, a visit to the Roman spa town of Bath, and a showing of Bridesmaids in a Bristol Cinema. The reason that we had so much time to kill between leaving the site and our flight is that on 2 previous occasions we had booked flights too early: at 2pm and 5pm and thanks to inclement weather we had been unable to get off site in time and had missed both flights. The first time this happened we were forced to hire a car, and drive the 5 ½ hours to Holyhead in order to get home. The second time Aer Arran charged us €840 for two last minute one way tickets from Cardiff to Dublin. I was adamant that this wasn’t happening again and so this time we decided to have a lazy day in Somerset and booked the last flight out of Bristol, the 8:30 Aer Lingus Regional to Dublin.
This gave us plenty of time to relax after the festivities of the weekend and still arrive in plenty of time to get our flight.
I have always considered myself an efficient and accommodating flyer. I almost never have carry-on luggage, and if I do it is always below the permitted weight and dimensions. I am always ready with everything out of my pockets at the security check so as to speed up the process for me and for the people standing behind me. I always arrive at the gate in plenty of time, to ensure that I do not hold up the flight, and inconvenience other passengers or the flight crew, and this flight was no exception. Mark, my travelling partner and I arrived in Bristol Airport in plenty of time to return our hire car, check in, travel through security and get to the boarding gate. We were both looking forward to a hot shower and our own bed after a weekend of mud, tents and basic washing facilities. We had walked a good twenty miles over the last couple of days in sucking mud and we were tired. This was the last leg of our journey and we were both relieved to be nearly home.
The flight was operated by Aer Lingus Regional in an ATR 72, 
a small regional turboprop aircraft and I was very happy to learn that we were seated at the very front of the aircraft which meant that there was no seat in front of me that could be reclined. At 6’7”, I barely fit into standard seats when they are upright, never mind when they are reclined.
We boarded the aircraft, made our way to our seats and sat down, looking forward to the short hop across the Irish Sea. It became immediately apparent however that the cabin attendant was not in the most accommodating mood. As I sat down I took my phone out of my pocket and switched it off for take-off, just as the cabin attendant passed our seats. She leant over and barked in my ear
“I hope that phone is off”
I smiled, nodded my assent and picked up the magazine that I was reading.
A few moments later as the cabin attendant was finishing the safety briefing she once again leant over to me and in a stern tone said:
“You had better have turned off that phone” “If you haven’t the captain will know and he will be able to tell me”
She gave me a fixed stare.
Once again I smiled a little less certainly and certainly less warmly and told her:
“It’s off”
The cabin attendant then pulled out the jump seat that directly faces the seat that I was in: 2C and sat down for take-off.
After take-off both cabin attendants moved to the rear of the cabin to get the bar trolley and Mark and I decided that after our day of travel and tourism that we would have a drink. As I had been driving all day we had been unable to have one, and now, with only the flight and a taxi ride ahead of us, we felt a drink was in order.
When the cabin crew pushed the cart to the front of the cabin to begin bar service, the attendant skipped our row and started at the row behind. I looked up and caught her eye, and when she was done serving the row behind I (as pleasantly as I could) asked whether we could get a gin and tonic (for Mark), a double whiskey (for me) and a chicken sandwich. This request was met with a withering look from the attendant, but eventually the drinks were forthcoming. Mark and I counted up all the sterling change that we had, and realised that it would not cover the £19 (€21.10) that the bill came to and so I fished around in my wallet for the euros that I had kept to pay for the taxi ride home. As I proffered the €50 note, the cabin attendant gave me a look as though I was handing her a newly minted turd and barked:
“Have you not got anything smaller?”
To which I replied:
“I’m sorry I don’t”
She then said:
“I can see coins in your hand there, what are they?”
I replied:
“Yeah, sorry those are sterling coins and I don’t have enough to pay the bill in sterling, I will have to pay in euros”
She then snapped the €50 out of my hand so hard that I literally jumped and barked:
“Right, well you will have to wait until I have change at the end.”
When she had moved on, Mark leant over to me and whispered:
“I can’t believe how rude she is being… I hope that she doesn’t give you back a handful of coins to get back at you”
Bar service continued. Mark and I sipped our drinks and quietly talked about our weekend; the bands we had seen, the people that we had met and how much we were both looking forward to a shower.
Almost at the end of the flight, the other cabin attendant came back to the front of the cabin with my change. As Mark had predicted the attendant offered me my change which came to €28.90 thus:
1 – €20 note and wrapped up in it:
1 – €2 coin
6 – 50 cent coins
15 – 20 cent coins
8 – 10 cent coins
2 – 5 cent coins
As the attendant offered me the change I looked at him incredulously.
“I’m sorry, but can’t you make any better change than that?”
He replied:
“We can’t, this is all we have.”
Again I looked at him, not touching the change.
“Sorry, but you mean to tell me that you have been all the way through the plane and served all these people, and not one of them has paid with a €5 note? Almost everything on your menu is €5”
“No, please take your change sir, I have things to do”
Realising there was little to be gained by arguing further, I held up my hand and he poured the change into it. Some of the 10 cent coins tumbled onto the floor. I looked up at the cabin attendant again and he gave me a smirk and walked off.
Tired, dirty, 5 minutes from landing, I realised that I just wanted to get home and so forced the handful of change into my pocket as well I could and sat back waiting for yet another perfect Aer Lingus experience to be over.
Whilst I had been looking out of the window at the approach to Dublin, I had stretched my leg out along the side of the bulkhead in front of me and it was now inadvertently lying across the slot where the jump seat folded into when not in use. When the captain gave the order for the cabin crew to take their seats the cabin attendant returned to her jump seat directly opposite me and barked at me once more:
“Move your foot!”
I quickly withdrew my leg and she pulled out her seat and sat down.
When I turned away from looking out the window to look at her, I saw that she was looking at me smirking. She looked away immediately and I stared. I couldn’t believe that she was so openly laughing at how she had got one over on a customer. I looked down at her name badge resolving to make a complaint and when I looked back up at her face she was looking at me again. I gave her what could be best described as a look which clearly displayed my displeasure and was just about to look away again when her dulcet tones pierced the silence again:
“Stop staring at me or I will report you!”
I looked up at her quizzically.
“I am not staring at you, I was noting your name from your name badge so that I can register a complaint about your rudeness and brusque manner, also as you are seated directly opposite me, there is really nowhere else to look than in your direction.”
“Oh, you want my name do you? I’ll write it down for you if you want.”
She smiled.
I looked at her.
“That’s fine thank you, I can remember it”
And then once again:
“Stop staring at me!”
I looked over at Mark. He was looking at her incredulously. I looked back at the attendant, smiled dismissively and then looked back down at the magazine I had on my lap.
Immediately after landing the attendant jumped up from her seat and immediately went into the flight deck. She returned shortly after with a smile on her face and walked back to the back of the cabin. A short announcement followed.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, welcome to Dublin Airport, there will be a short delay as we wait on another bus to take you to the terminal.”
It was with astonishiment that Mark and I, and all the other passengers on the plane looked out the window 5 minutes later to see the plane surrounded by 5 police cars including 2 canine units with lights flashing and sirens wailing. The call came over the tannoy,
“Thank you Ladies and Gentlemen, you may now disembark.”
Being at the front of the plane, and the exit being at the back, Mark and I were the last people from the plane to disembark. Everyone else had climbed onto the waiting bus and was pressed up against the window looking to see who or what the Airport Police were waiting for. I made my way down the plane, past the smiling attendants and as I stepped out onto the steps the attendant pointed at me and shouted across to the waiting Airport Police officers:
“That’s him”
Two officers approached me and said:
“We are here to take you to the local Gardaí station. A complaint has been made against you that you were making threatening gestures and language against a member of staff and that she was in fear of her life and the safety of the plane”
I told them that that wasn’t true and was frankly ridiculous but that I had no problem accompanying them to clear up the matter.
At that point the passenger bus pulled away and after a short time on the apron I was bundled into a vehicle and taken the short distance to the Garda station in the Airport. During the short trip the officer in the passenger seat chatted away, asking where I was coming back from. I chatted back, describing our weekend.
When we arrived at the station, I was handed over to a Garda who asked the first officer what nationality I was.
He then asked me to follow him into an interview room where he asked me to sit. After asking for some ID, he then asked me to explain what was had happened.
I retold the events as outlined above and told the officer that I really didn’t understand why I was here. I had made a complaint about the change that I had received but that was it. I had never raised my voice, I certainly had never made any threatening gestures and in my opinion this was just a case of someone who had had a bad day, over-reacting.
The officer asked had I ever been in trouble with the Gardaí for anything like this before, I replied that I hadn’t.
The officer asked whether I had been drinking that night. I replied that I had been driving all day and the first drink that I had drunk was on the flight, and that I had drunk two whiskeys.
We then chatted for a while about why I had been in Bristol, about Glastonbury and about U2′s performance and after a couple of minutes the Guard then thanked me, asked me to sit for a while and left the room.
When he returned a few minutes later he sat down opposite me and said:
“Right, well it’s late and no doubt after the weekend and your couple of drinks you are tired, the complainant has just phoned to say that she is tired and very upset and distraught by the whole incident and will not be making a statement tonight, so as I have your contact details, we are going to let you go and I will call you sometime in the next couple of weeks to make a statement. Is that alright with you?”
At a loss for words, I nodded. The Garda showed me out of the interview room and into the reception where Mark was sitting waiting for me.
On the way home I got angrier and angrier. This was an example of an Aer Lingus employee who had given rude and bad service to a customer who had done nothing to cause her hassle other than have no smaller banknote than a €50 note, yet the employee had used her unique position to leverage all of the security apparatus in place in the Airport to embarrass me in front of the entire plane, including as Mark told me later, a colleague of his from work who had been sitting 4 rows back. She had called out 5 vehicles, 10 officers and a couple of canine units, at the States cost to take someone who hadn’t done as much as raise his voice off a plane that had already landed.
I have no idea why this woman took such an immediate dislike to me. I have no idea what perceived slight she had detected or I had exhibited, but it was apparent to anyone who bothered to notice that she was not well pleased with my presence on the plane. Even Mark commented at the beginning of the flight that her tone when instructing me to turn off my phone was unpleasant at best. I had tried to be as pleasant as I could the whole way through the flight right up to the point where she was obviously flashing me a triumphant smirk and even then all I did was announce my intent to file a complaint.
The more I think about this incident the angrier I become. All I wanted to do was get home and instead there is now a plane load of people who think that I am a terrorist or a drug smuggler or worse. I have become “known to Gardai” and probably now appear on some Aer Lingus and Dublin Airport blacklist, and all due to the unqualified statement that a member of cabin crew made against me. I was given no opportunity to give my statement.
I understand that these sorts of reports need to be taken very seriously. In today’s world trouble on an aircraft is a major problem, but I absolutely deny there was any trouble and further that I made any threatening gesture toward the cabin crew or the plane. No other passenger was aware of any trouble, there had been no shouting, no drunken brawl, just a complaint about change and the aircraft had landed and come to a complete halt before Ms ****** ***** got on the radio and made her report to the Airport security services.
There must be some accountability on behalf of the staff member who calls the security that it is a valid call out and not someone settling an score by incurring significant expense for the state and its taxpayers.
I am at a loss at where to go from here. Any comments appreciated.
All I know is that there are 40 or 50 people out there who when they see me next will have a little bell go off in their memories saying:
“Isn’t that the guy who was carted off the plane from Glastonbury by Gardaí”
*It has been pointed out to me since I posted this, that the services of Aer Lingus Regional are in fact provided by the airline Aer Arann.
For an update to what happened after I posted this, please click here.
My god, what a horrible, horrible experience. What an utter bitch. Have you been in touch with Aer Lingus since? I wonder does this ****** wan make a habit of this, as she seems to be getting away with it. That just completely put me off travelling with them.
Without a shadow of a doubt – complain! You did nothing wrong.
I can hardly believe that a member of the flight crew on a plane would do that to a passenger, that her colleagues went along with it, or that the authorities just took her word for it and you weren’t allowed to even get them to consult the people behind you who would’ve been able to vouch for you.
I hope there’s a full investigation, because she HAS to be held accountable for HER behaviour, and so do her colleagues.
Heh, your situation reminds me of this scene from the BBC show “Come Fly With Me”:
http://www.blinkbox.com/TV/36131/Come-Fly-With-Me-S01E03?Scene=63433
I’m absolutely flabbergasted. What a bi**h. That is ridiculous carry on. I think you should ask a solicitors advice re slander
- @ncooney99
I’m stunned by this. The unfortunate thing that if you report her to Aer Lingus it will be her word against yours. Who will they listen to? Suggestion 2. Ring Joe Duffy. He loves this sort of thing.
Would there be some sort of CCTV on the plane that could back up the statements? Surely even the smaller planes must have some cameras, if only to allow the pilot to see back into the plane in case of trouble…
I would complain to the airline and it’s subsidiary company, asking them to formally investigate as they should have a full manifest of passengers with addresses to make a statement of an uneventful flight, ask for confirmation of receipt of the complaint and ask how long it should take. If they do not reply seek some legal advice and also add in the original complaint that you have sent a copy also to a national newspaper who you are going to keep informed. If you have a consumer affairs program on tv send a copy of this to them as well, it’s an interesting piece, good luck !
If this is correct, and if there was no complaint, you were illegally imprisoned. Follow that up.
If a Garda receives a complaint it is within his power to arrest and imprison someone for up to 24 hours (there are a few conditions on this). Sadly if the flight attendant doesn’t make a statement to the Gardaí, which it looks like she isn’t/won’t, then there’s not a lot to be done, maybe wasting Garda time? But that would only be if someone could prove that she didn’t actually think there was a threat (read: she was lying).
I’m sooo sorry and embarrassed that gowl acted like that towards you, I’m really hurt reading your account and hope you are vindicated soon
You have documented it beautifully. Now, send it to the President of Aer Lingus. Mark it “Personal.” What happened to you is outrageous and some sort of vindication is required.
You might also want to submit it to a newspaper. It’s not just about you; but could happen to any one of us. Thanks for sharing your experience.
Complain!
Complain like you never have before! Just because she holds a position of power it should be abused when she’s having a bad day! People like her should be put in their place! I’d also be going to the press about this. Get publicity! Get statements from Mark and from his colleague and if a paper picks the story up ask them to ask people to get in touch with you if they were on the flight.
This is disgusting!
Good luck!
If this was me I’d be consulting my solicitor and I would make sure she didnt get away with that!
Well, if you want accountability, a good start would be to supply it here. Using the name ******* protects the very person who had you falsely arrested.
This is an interesting blog. I’d like to take a critical position to clarify some points.
You state that after the concert you were tired,and decided to have a couple of scotches with some food. As this is your version of events, one might reasonably ask – how tired were you? Exhausted? Grumpy? Not one hundred percent?
How did the drinks affect you in this tired state? Your account of the events seems very cogent, but a lawyer in court might find inconsistencies.
Abuse of power by airline staff is a very serious matter. The staff who are guilty of a wrongful accusation based on a personality clash should be at least councilled , or charged with malicious wrongful prosecution. If the airline doesn’t take this matter seriously, they are failing in their duty of care for staff and passengers.
Using the threat of a charge of terrorism to intimidate people is counter-productive, and possibly dangerous.
I hope you’ve seen a solicitor or legal professional, because you might find this incident could have implications in the future. Good luck.
Thanks for the comment David. I will admit I was pretty tired after the weekend, however I was also after having a very relaxing day and was in very good form boarding the plane. I’m a pretty tall guy, it would normally take more than 2 whiskeys to have any effect on me. The more I think back on events, the more I am convinced that I gave this lady no reason to treat me this way. I was sober, rational and calm. Right up to the point where the police arrived outside the plane. Then shock took over.
Thanks Leo. Hope I don’t sound too critical or rude myself!
I’m amazed at the pettiness you witnessed in the airline staff here. Pathetic , amateurish and rude by the sound of it.
The public is at the mercy of people in authority, so these people must be held to the highest standards.
All the best.
At the same time, there is no doubt…. the flight attendant used her power to avoid having a complaint about her taken seriously. She knew that if she made it look like a threat, then the complaint would not be seen valid and rational by the airline and she wouldn’t be in trouble with her superiors because after all… she reported being threatened. Regardless of the fact she was never threatened, she knew the authorities would listen to her story and not the story of the passenger.
Ill advised comment aside i don’t think there’s any need to report the guards who in fairness had to respond to the call. Aer lingus deserve to bear the brunt of this. I’m never in favour of asking for people to lose their jobs but I can guarantee there’s someone out there who would value that lady’s job a lot more than she clearly does.
Make a statement to the police and have her arrested for slander. Follow up with the airline.
The person who made an unfounded complaint against Louis Walsh was arrested. There’s no difference between your case and that one. Make a complaint to the Gardai as Louis did.
I feel a little dirty even suggesting this but…maybe…Talk to Joe?
I can not believe what I’m reading. What an ordeal! You should definitely take this further. Ms Haley needs to be reported immediately. Do not let this go. Best of luck.
Purely as a matter of interest, if you turned your phone off, how’d you take the photo of the change?
That photo was taken on Mark’s phone, which he turned back on to take the photo.
That photo was taken on Mark’s phone, which he turned back on to take the photo.
Grand, only asking because someone else might. F-ing disgraceful, the whole business.
Also, I endorse the view that Joe should be talked to.
I am sorry you had such an awful experience.
As a former US flight attendant back in the eighties and early nineties (nine years total.) I never had an issue with a passenger that could not be easily resolved. Yes, I had my fair share of disgruntled passengers, but I had always managed to turn the situation around. It is amazing what a smile and a compassionate ear can accomplish: throw in a free drink and the problem was usually resolved.
Ironically, the hardest part of my job was often times my fellow crewmembers that had forgotten his or her job duties, ‘To make sure the passengers had a safe, comfortable and ENJOYABLE flight.’
I hope you have some means of getting the names of your fellow passengers, as Hayley most likely had some of them sign something about the incident in her defense. Which of course, is ridiculous! I wish I could help, but that is my best advice,
Take care…
Thanks for the advice.
This flight attendant was not at all interested in that. And since the 80′s, airlines can’t give a damn about service as long as they get money rolling in and their planes are in the air they don’t care whether their staff offer drinks and smile while doing so or not. This woman knew she was about to get repremanded, she knew what she did was wrong and her job might’ve been on the line. Her convinent solution was to get the innocent party in the firing line. And I don’t think too many of the fellow passengers would side, the same could happen to them if they did.
A disgraceful way to be treated. I would complain to the Garda Ombudsman and the airline.
This is not a complaint to be handled by the Garda Ombudsman as the Gardaí were doing exactly as they were supposed to and there was no misconduct on their part.
Yes Ben, I have no issue with the Gardaí in this matter. As you point out, they were only doing their job.
Absolutely complain.
This is a total abuse of power from a member of staff… Which resulted in a waste of police time, as well as distress to you.
It doesn’t matter who this flight was “operated” by, it was still an Aer Lingua flight and I, and my large Irish family, will consider this story when we’re next booking flights to/ from Ireland.
What an awful experience!! I certainly think you need to complain, as that type of treatment shouldn’t have happened & complaining will help to stop her or (her colleagues) from repeating the same thing again to another unsuspecting passenger.
I can’t believe, that is horrendous!
Get justice! I’m so sorry to hear about this Leo
I’m guessing the airline has a record of the passengers around you. Perhaps the Garda could get in touch with them as well and find out if you were this angry raging threat she seems to make out or rather the calm and good natured traveller you appear to be.
Airlines are making travel less and less pleasant and using the terrorist stick to beat everyone around the head…. sometimes someone has to stand up for the passengers, so best of luck…
Pretty much the point I was going to make. Surely if you were threatening her, all the other passengers they would know and verify it. There would be witnesses.
Also, if she felt the plane was in danger she would have had you suppressed and/or strapped to the chair. The fact this came up after you landed shows it was obviously a lie.
I’d pursue my complaint loudly and legally were it me
Put a uniform on some people and they go a bit power mad, or so I have heard. :-) Maybe you were in front of her at Glastonbury and she couldn’t see over you :-P
On a serious note, please follow through, make a complaint to Aer Lingus and the Gardai. Too often people like this get away with this abuse because we’re all too busy to follow through and complain or report it. People like this woman need to remember that, although they have a job to do, her passengers pay her wages and need to be respected accordingly.
No complaint equals false imprisonment.
I obviously didn’t put this very well since people are giving it the thumbs down. The point is that if no complaint was made then y ou were falsely imprisoned and you’re entitled to take proceedings against the airline and the employee.
No one was falsely imprisoned here, as I said in my earlier comment.
I’m gobsmacked. You have to take legal action.
Leo, what you haven’t said is that (parsing your account of events) is that you and Mark are a couple. I seems to me, as an impartial, disinterested reader of your report of events, that the woman in question took exception to that. If that is the case, and I think there is a strong possibility that it is, you have a strong case under equality legislation to sue Aer Lingus for discrimination on grounds of sexual orientation. And if you are a same-sex couple you owe it to others in your circumstances to pursue Aer Lingus on that basis. HOW DARE SHE!
I thought Ryanair were dreadful. Is it an Irish airline thing? I have never known a group of people more obstructive to customer service and satisfaction.
I am sorry to hear about your experience (the bitch was probably on the blob) and shall be avoiding Aer Arann as a result! I hope they reimburse you appropriately and feel sure the great number of people tweeting about this (myself included) will make them sit up and take notice.
I think you made a mistake informing her you were going to make a complaint.
From your account it seems perfectly plausible she made an allegation to discredit any possible complaint you would have made against her. That would be a pretty irresponsible, immoral and illegal abuse of power on her part.
I hope you do continue your complaint against her and look forward to hearing about how this progresses.
Without a doubt your first port of call should be a solicitor. At a minimum you have a good case for suing her and the airline, with your mate and, if he’s willing, the guy a few rows behind to give evidence she would be in serious trouble. I would also make a complaint to the gardai about her alleging offences which didn’t occur. She needs to be severely punished or she might do it to someone else. Act now, don’t wait.
Leo, this is horrific. Complete abuse of ‘authority’, nothing short of bullying. For your own dignity and for the principle of the matter, this must be followed up.
Before everyone starts bashing Aer Lingus as a whole, it should be noted that this flight was operated by Aer Arann and the crew are from Aer Arann, so just keep that in mind. What happened should not have regardless of the airline.
I disagree: If Aer Lingus has a franchise agreement it is an Aer Lingus problem as much as Aer Arann.
The issue of your grumpiness is a misnomer. I believe your account but even if you’re playing it down you have nothing to defend. Customers are grumpy – no one is allowed to respond how she did. From a commercial and legal perspective she was beyond the pale. The only thing I’d hold against you is that you have to ask randomers online what to do? There should be no doubt. Complain as a customer to Aer Arann/Aer Lingus for the first half of your story. Charge as a citizen with the Gardai for the outrageous second half and use the media if either or both of those two fail. There are lots of people looking for jobs at the moment. On the basis of your account she’s occupying one she is totally unfit for.
This may sound cynical, but it occurs to me that the reason she made the call was because you said you were going to make a complaint. A complaint from aan ordinary customer to head office may be investigated and have repercussions for that staff member. However, a complaint from someone reported for abusive behaviour is less likely to be given as much credence.
Shocking.
I’d write to both Aer Arann and Aer Lingus. The partnership between them which forms Aer Lingus Regional is slightly complicated but basically it’s all Aer Arann, they just pay Aer Lingus for the use of their brand image and uniforms, all the staff are on the Aer Arann payroll so it’s up to them to do something about her but I’m sure Aer Lingus would love to hear about it, something like that is something they would seriously look into and I’m sure would lead to them questioning Aer Arann’s training and customer satisfaction levels as I have never heard of something like this from Aer Lingus. Even if this flight attendant doesn’t work for Aer Lingus officially, she is still representing them so her actions reflect on them when it is actually Aer Arann who hold responsibility for her.
I’d also agree that you should complain to Gardai and get this in the papers or call Joe. I hate to think of her doing that to someone else while wearing the Aer Lingus uniform when so many would love the opportunity to work in the industry.
Bloody hell! She obviously made the complaint against because she knew you were going to make a complaint against her so she got her retaliation in first. Complain like all hell. do whatever you can to find the passengers seated near you to ask to be witness’.
Something else by the way: “the complainant has just phoned to say that she is tired and very upset and distraught by the whole incident and will not be making a statement tonight”
So, where did she phone from? Was she going home? How can the Guards allow her to leave without getting a statement from her?
If the woman has no complaint to make then she has slandered you.
Good luck with it all.
It also sounds like she knew exactly what to do. Preempt your complaint by saying she felt threatened and then say she is just too upset but doesn’t want to take the matter any further so the law won’t be involved and no tough questions will be asked.
Experience, has she done this before?
Unbelievable! I’m sick of rude cabin crew using their power to get innocent passengers into strife just because they’re having a bad day and don’t feel like putting on a smile for 45 mins. I think it might’ve been safer to not tell her you were reporting her, because that may have tempted her more. But no doubt she was an outright b***h. It sounds like something you would expect to see on an episode of that series the guys from Little Britain did about an airline.
Hi Leo, i somehow found my way here via twitter and was shocked to read about your ordeal!
As i read the replies it dawned on me who you were! The same Leo who was a tutor on the webactivate program in Galway!
As we all know there are two sides to each story and im sure some people who have read this could be sceptical of Leo’s version of events. From my point of view i can confirm that Leo is a sound and geniune guy.
Anyways i hope you take this further, maybe as others have suggested and talk to joe, as abuse of power like this is a disgrace.
I’d like to re-iterate these sentiments. Leo was also a tutor of mine on an ICT program a few years ago. I found him to be extremely genuine, honest, sound and a good laugh to have a few pints with. I have no reason to doubt his version of events. It’s an absolute disgrace that anyone in this persons position could behave like this
Obvious question not yet asked. Where you filthy and smelly after Glastonbury!? Maybe your appearance offended her…
I had washed, but in a cold sink so yes, I was not as presentable as I normally on. However, almost the entire flight was returning from Glastonbury and so was in the same situation.
There’s a ring of truth about this story – Bock sent me the link.
Don’t ring Joe, or write to the Chairman of Aer Lingus. Get a solicitor on this who is wily and tactical, you need an objective tactician on it. Have write write to Ms. Hippy-hater and put her on notice that he has taken instructions in the matter and ask her to nominate a solicitor rto receive service of papers behalf. Write to the Airport Police for copies of their log/diary/incident report for the matter, and ask for their names. Write to Aer Lingus for the names of the other crew in full, a copy of the Captain’s flight log, and the names and details of the passengers in rows 1-8 on that flight. More on those general lines, the garda’s name, radio record of the comms from the plane to the apo etc.
The approach I’m advocating is professional, deliberate, slow, calm and quite fterrifying if you are Ms Hippy-hater. Assemble as much info in the file as you can, particularly if the info is actually no info, such as no entry in the flight log, that’s the most useful.
Go and see a good, calm, wily, tactical solicitor who writes a good letter. Forget about Joe.
Nuts
What this guy said. If you unleash a legal firestorm it’ll have a far more powerful effect on the management within Aer Arann and Aer Lingus. As she was representing their company at the time sue them for distraught and compensation aswell.
These 20 year old girls they’re hiring for these positions are barely out of school and treat the planes like their playground. Show her what the real world is like.
I’m inclined to agree with this post. The best way to go about it is as you started on the plane – calm, collected, and rationally. Also, a solicitor’s letter is probably more likely to result in action, whereas a personal letter may, at best, get you an apology letter back with some line about “training staff to ensure it doesn’t happen again” and possibly a voucher for future flights or similar, which wouldn’t be a good enough outcome for me in this situation.
Best suggestion I’ve seen .. she’ll realise that you’ve given this a lot of thought on how to proceed, are taking it very seriously, and haven’t been frightened off by her little stunt.
This is definitely outrageous behaviour on the part of the attendant.
I’m a bit surprised you’ve not suffered from it before though.
Tall men tend to get persecuted. I think people genuinely seem to find them threatening. My dad (55 years old, 6ft6 and the least aggressive person EVER) has been forcibly removed from the bank by security staff on maybe three occasions in the past few years. Simply for asking entirely reasonable bank-type cash questions – nothing controversial.
People seem to find him threatening simply because he’s a bit bigger than them.
Amazing, you should balance your report with a comment from the airline.
Otherwise I think you acted admirably – in the face of such a lot of tripe.
Well done.
God, i can feel my blood boiling on your behalf at the injustice of this. I agree with the other comments that you shouldn’t let this drop. Even if she now decides not to make a statement then you should make a complaint about her to aer lingus/aer arann/the gardai/whoever to get this woman brought to account for her appalling treatment of you. I would go to the papers as the media does love a good story about this sort of treatment. Good luck with whatever you decide to do.
OMFG!, don’t complain, just sue them, immediately, stress, illegal detention, fear of flying, etc… etc… Aer Arann have the rudest most vicious staff ever, they are the rejects & retards of the airline industry. Had a similar experience a few years ago from Dublin to Cork, unbelievable, they were like a pack of wolves. Even the security there just raised their eyes to heaven, oh and our complaint letter went unanswered. BTW all “trolly dolly’s” are trained in retaliation tactics, they have to pass a course on it. Your name is now on the “Trolly Dolly Black List” beware!
Leo, Unless you intend to lodge a complaint, under no circumstances should you censor her name. You shouldn’t take this abuse from Mrs Brown’s skanger bus in the sky. If you dont intend to lodge a complaint send this story to the papers, name included.
Bear in mind I’m in the UK, not Ireland, so I’m basing what I would do on UK law.
I would suggest you find a good lawyer, and aim to bring suit against at least Aer Lingus and the stewardess personally, and, depending on the lawyer’s advice, possibly against Dublin Airport and the Garda unit involved, on the basis that her statement to the police which came about from her time as an Aer Lingus representative was slanderous, and that the resulting police actions would have resulted in people (Mark’s colleague, for example) thinking less of you (textbook definition of defamation). If you do this, and Aer Lingus doesn’t settle before court, make sure the press are pointed to the docket – nothing like facing the press to get a board of directors to investigate what happened and why. Don’t, however, get the press involved before then – you don’t want to back them into a corner.
At the same time, investigate your options for action with the Garda; I have encountered situations personally in the UK where a complaint to the police about their actions resulted in the person who reported an alleged offence facing criminal charges for wasting police time; the police went back to them after the event, and told them that they wished to take this complaint to the CPS for prosecution, but that a witness statement was required, and that if they didn’t wish to make one, they would themselves face arrest for wasting police time.
Bear in mind that if they do this and your description of events is accurate, it puts her in a catch-22 situation; if her statement is false, that’s a criminal matter, and with a motivated complainant on their backs, the Garda will probably prosecute just to be seen to be being fair. If it’s true, she runs the risk of prosecution for falsely accusing you and wasting their time. If she still refuses to make a statement, she can face charges anyway.
Even if your description of events is inaccurate, she still faces consequences, as she’ll need to give the Garda enough of a statement to justify their actions – of course, in this situation, you’d face the risk of prosecution, but it sounds like you think that’s a reasonable risk to take.
Hopefully, you’ll find a way to get this resolved, one way or another.
I suggest you register on and post this in flyertalk, it’s well followed by the airlines and should get pickedup there. There are multiple forums it could go in. Have a poke around and find the right one. It will get the frequent fliers behind you and shame the airline where more big spenders are. They may approach you directly through it. Good luck.
for your own sake you must complain this person and also.there must be a record of it to protect future travelers.do threaten joe duffy and why, if no complaint was made were you in a garda car,address your complaint to i….head o aer lingus…2 …head of aer arran……head of security @daa…….garda ombudsman also state that the complaint has been made to all four…your blog itself is excellent and should be used as part of the complaint itself .
I hope you have employed the services of a good beak,..take them to the cleaners for this stunt,..both the airline & the staff member.
I would agree with pretty much all of the above. Keep on complaining to Aer Lingus until you get satisfaction. I can’t help but wonder if your post-festival state may have caused this flight attendant to take an immediate dislike to you. That’s certainly not an excuse but people have been known to take a bias against someone if they’re dressed down, unshowered, dirty, etc. I once flew back on Aer Lingus after attending the Reading Festival and I wasn’t in much of a squeaky clean state either but didn’t encounter any problems.
Well I hope everything resolves properly. That first comment by the policeman was probably inappropriately assuming guilt, but with any luck it won’t go any further. Hopefully, the attendant will be in trouble for the lies she told to cause all this. There has to be a balance between making people scared of reporting things to the police and dealing with false allegations, but I think it’s pretty heavily on the false allegations side. If it was England I’d be thinking about things like wasting police time – I hope that’s also an offence in Ireland.
I came back from Glastonbury via Bristol airport. I too had missed flights so I booked the 7.50pm with Ryanair (didn’t know aer lingus had a flight outta there) I had to spend the day in the airport, and I noticed that the staff were extremely rude to anyone wearing a rucksack and who looked like they were coming back from the festival. I found it extremely difficult to get through security, and I felt that the staff had it in for any Glastonbury attendees. Ironically, the flight attendant on the Ryanair flight was totally bonkers- chatting away with the passengers and slagging off her colleague over the tannoy. Seriously though, regardless of your consumption of alcohol, if you didn’t raise your voice or make obscene gestures, or (really important here) stand up while addressing her, then you have grounds for a legitimate complaint against the Aer Lingus attendant. I would get a solicitor, as since Glinner has just retweeted this, I’d say there’s a good chance it’ll be in the papers by tomorrow.
I find Bristol airport staff bloody rude anyway.l have gone through there dozens of times and they are just horrible.
Serves you right for being all tall and terroristy looking, you with your fancy schmancy €50 notes.
Was the cow in an Aer Lingus uniform or Aer Arran ?
Let’s hope she’s removed from her job and preferably charged with making a false statement.
She was wearing an Aer Lingus uniform and the plane was in Aer Lingus livery.
Sounds like shocking treatment, but as you acknowledged right at the end, it wasn’t an Aer Lingus crew. Suggest you offer a more prominent clarification to that effect at the top!
This is amazing! Definitely complain and I’d suggest contacting Minister for Transport, the DAA and other relevant authorities. It is hard to see a justification for someone to be as petty as that. I have great sympathy for your plight. Perhaps a call to Joe Duffy could be a good course of action as well. Aer lingus will not be happy with such negative publicity.
Very professional of you to not mention the b*tch’s name. I couldn’t have restrained myself if it were me. Some cabin crew really are self-important scum aren’t they? I bet she had an orange face and stank of lavender.
I would have beaten the shit out of her, the gards and the aeroplane
You should absolutely take this further. As someone suggested above, send it to the top brass at Aer Lingus and don’t let it rest. Appalling behaviour by the cabin crew member in question. Most incredible thing I’ve read in a long time. I hope it works out for you.
Shocking way to be treat and certainly chase it up.
I still can’t believe that I can get on a bus or a metro and they are covered in cameras to prevent/record offences and yet even after 9/11 there is nothing on aircraft to do the same.
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If the gardai were going to consider this matter as serious as you describe then surely the other passengers should have been interviewed by them, the other passengers opinions of your behaviour would be far more effective in assessing your intentions, and thus realistically establishing who was at fault. If your version is the truth as to what actually happened, then of course you should make a complaint to Aer Lingus and Aer Arran, but you should also make a formal complaint to the Gardai about her wasting Garda time. If the gardai will not do anything about her, then a complaint to the Garda Ombudsman might also be appropriate.
Certainly complain. A useful thing to do to support this would be to get the opinion of other passengers, if possible, as to the non-threatening nature of your behaviour. Some social-media circulation of your account and media coverage would certainly help in that respect.
wow that is awful. MAKE A LOT OF NOISE! Talk to Joe. Talk to Journalists. And maybe before all that, talk to a solicitor.
You had every right to make a complaint about such shocking service, and what she did was an incredible abuse of not only her power, but also the Gardai who were forced into the position of using incredibly valuable resources when they needn’t have been.
I agree fully with everyone who suggests you make a complaint, seek legal advice and put this story to the attention of the press. Assuming your account of events is honest, which I have absolutely no reason to doubt, the people truly at fault must be held to account for their actions. The air hostesses actions in this event were not only immoral, but pretty sure they were illegal too.
Make your voice heard with full gusto and best of luck in getting some kind of justice from such a horrible event.
I read this and was shocked but I actually think it’s too unbelievable to be true… you know, there are two sides to every story…
i wouldn’t let this go. made me mad just reading it. i’d file a complaint against her with the garda for knowingly wasting their time and false accusations. so long as you remember what flight you were on there will be a passanger list with a record of the names of the passengers seated around you who could act as witnesses. even if they didn’t hear anything, that would only corroborate your version even more. surely if there was some disturbance that warranted police action, people within the next 3 or 4 rows would have seen or heard something.
Shouldn’t she be charged for making a false statement & wasting police time? What a b**ch! “Great” Irish hospitality haha
Unbelievable. Reading this has got me surprisingly angry. Unfortunately I’ve seen it before (and been on the receiving end) where attendants just take a dislike to someone and push it to the point where you can’t help but be upset. Anyone can have a bad day but it’s wrong to take it out on passengers.
DON’T let her get away with it. If you have the energy pursue it until (a) they remove the complaint and (b) they acknowledge your poor treatment. The latter might be hard unless you can get statements from other passengers to support how you behaved/ were treated. But don’t let it lie, and make sure the Garda take a statement.
Ask the guy your mate knows from 4 rows back his opinion. He must have been able to see/hear what was going on.
You really, really, really have to complain about this. Firstly to clear your name of any mud she slung sticking to it. And secondly to make sure that she never has the opportunity to do anything like that ever again to anyone else.
I’m sure a court could get the passenger manifest so you could have witnesses from that flight to say you did nothing wrong.
An absolutely f**king horrific story and a prime example of how and why so many Irish businesses fail.
I would not let her away with this man – no way. A psych evaluation of her would probably be enough for you to be compensated handsomely – and I’d make absolutely sure you are.
It seems highly likely that you will not be the first person that this attendant has taken a dislike to, and there may already be complaints filed from passengers on previous flights. Go ahead, make your complaint in a dignified manner. I don’t see that you have anything to lose, and there may already be enough evidence for this to be acted on. If not, then at least there will be a record if anyone in the future accuses the attendant of similar behaviour.
A similar story was on the Joe Duffy show 6 months ago. The Airlines know this is happening, If you dont complain or at least send in a solicitors letter demanding action be taken you will be doing the travelling public a massive dis service.
The cops are cops, Its A Team time for them when a flight attendant calls for back up. I’m not surprised by PC Plods reaction, their cops after all, never expect to much from them, ever.
Do it Leo, you know you have to.
Mully
If your account is an accurate representation of what happened, this is without a doubt a malicious complaint and also amounts to wasting police time. I’d be surprised if there is a plane in existence that doesn’t have CCTV on these days so contact the gardai, explain you’d like to make a counter complaint against this woman and ask them to request the CCTV from the plane – you should do this quickly as I believe they are not required to keep the footage for prolonged amounts of time. They police can also request a passenger list – a small sample of enquiries to those sitting around you should, again if your account is accurate, completely exonerate you and see that this employee is disciplined by the airline.
This woman should not be working in a service industry and should most certainly not be trusted with the responsibility of judging when to initiate a security alert. In truth, she sounds a little irrational. She escalated things from being a childish, mardy cow and ruining a customer’s experience to, as you say, besmirching you in front of a number of people who may or may not have had influence over your life (a work colleague, a client etc.). Hopefully this blog will come to the airline’s attention in any case and somebody will be in contact to apologise and compensate you and take the matter further.
Good luck.
You say you were dying for a shower. Was the reason the cabin crew took the hump with you because you hadn’t washed in days and were stinking to high heaven? Not that that excuses their behaviour of course. Just a thought.
Blimey, I thought my 3 hour coach trip to London after Glasto was bad! What a b*tch! Do her! Do her for all she’s worth, complain like you’ve never complained before.
Complain, complain, complain and do not let it drop until you get a satisfactory resolution – I’d personally want her to be fired for wasting resources.
As someone who used to work in the travel industry they are so used to fobbing complaints off and siding with staff instantly, but this is a serious complaint, it’s not just her being smug, it’s her taking things way too far. Too often these little bitches (pardon my language, but I know and worked with some of them) get a bit of power and let it go to their heads, companies spend millions promoting their ‘excellent customer service’ to have some little wagon having a bad, or probably more like it bored, day to treat a customer like that and take it WAY too far. She knew all she would have to do is say you were a threat and the power all goes back on her side. Complain and don’t let it drop, if you were threatening (to give the benefit of the doubt) and she was in a position that she was unable to do her job safely then there will be other passengers that can back this up for her, aer lingus will have contact details for every booking party on that flight, if they can use your email and mobile number to send you special offers to Barcelona they can use them to follow this girls behaviour up
That’s an absolute disgrace. You should definitely take this matter further, if for no other reason than to ensure that she learns that this type of behaviour & abuse of power is unacceptable & has serious consequences.
Best of luck with it.
Complain. Take it as far as you need too! I was also at Glasto and after the 7 hour drive, although tired, I was still polite and courteous to people in the supermarket on my return.. Even though I was tired and in need of a shower and sleep.
***** has no reason to treat you like that, she was obviously having one hell of a day! You deserve an apology at the very least!
Good luck!
That’s outrageous.. get a lawyer.
I would be very interested to know where you go from here.
If it was me I would definitely get legal advise on the matter. Surely the passengers that were sitting behind you would know that you weren’t being abusive towards her.
One thing that is sure is not to let it go. Make calls. Write to the press. Do whatever it takes to get your side heard.
I’ve already seen this posted on Twitter and I think a call to Joe Duffy to bring this to the public attention is warranted.
Good luck with it. I hope that you get the outcome that you are looking for.
You need to not only complain but make this known to the media!! So sick of staff members be it airline or retail etc thinking they can be blatantly rude to paying customers. This is taking it too far
I am utterly gobsmacked at the extreme conclusion of your experience, but at the same time not at all surprised at the rudeness / smugness of the airline staff, unfortunately I think it’s something everyone has experienced, customer service isn’t what it used to be!
Like other replies, I would advocate you seek legal advice, along with submitting a complaint in writing (including your exact version of events as above) to the Gardai, the DAA, the airline and The Commission for Aviation Regulation – http://www.aviationreg.ie/Complaint_Procedure/Default.203.html
Poor customer service is always inexcusable, but an experience like this and abuse of power with consequences which could follow you for life, is a totally different matter and you need to clear your name.
Good luck!
The Irish solution to this is to lodge a complaint and get nowhere. The American solution to this is to file a lawsuit against Aer Lingus and/or Aer Arrann and the flight attendant individually and get some cash for your troubles.
From another of Leo’s postings on this blog: “The all-encompassing rage that I feel when I am unable to secure one of those (exit) seats and file onto the plane to find somebody of <6' sitting in the exit row has quite frequently driven me to distraction." Think about it!
I am appalled at this story. Even if you had sat there bitching about her attitude for the entire flight, she had absolutely no right in acting on it the way she did.
What happened to “The customer is always right?”. I worked in Tesco for years and the crap we used get off customers [not saying you gave her crap] but you would just have to suck it up and move on. She completely abused her position and should be reprimanded by her employers for such.
Change the situation – suppose you were on a train and the same thing happened. I can 100% guarantee there would be no gardai waiting for you at the station.
I would be absolutely fuming if it happened to me. You were unfairly treated, there is no question.
As stated already the Gardai were only acting on what they thought was a serious complaint and by the sounds of it, after speaking with you I reckon they were well aware that the air hostess was not innocent in all this.
So what are you going to do???
Before going legal or talking to Joe or anything else, you should make a formal complaint to the Airline. Any company should at least be given the chance to act on a complaint. If they are not aware of a wrong doing, how can they rectify it.
I would let them know exactly what happened, the persons name, that you have witnesses (the guy sitting beside you Mark). Maybe even get an affidavit done up and tell them you have one. And that at the very least you want an apology from the person involved.
If an air hostess has made such a complaint to the Gardai, surely there should be a paper trail. Surely she cannot do it without some formal documentation? I would ask for a copy of this documentation form both the airline and the Gardai. You are entitled to this under the Freedom of Information Act.
When making the complaint I would register it when posting and also make sure to tell them that you want them to contact you to acknowledge that they have at least received the complaint.
Tee them up that you will be going legal and public with this if a satisfactory response is not received. Dont ask for free flights or compensation as this lessons your sincerity (looks like you are only out for a quick buck).
Most of all though make sure you do complain cause you never know how many other times she has wronged other customers and got away with it. If no one ever pulls her up on it, then she will feel like she can do this whenever she wants without any repercussions.
Question: how many of the flight crew were involved? “She” being that didn’t like being stared at and “He” being the one with all the change….. Cabin crew hunt in pairs! Ouch.
Hope you get a satisfactory resolution to this plight Leo!
I am going to retweet it and hope that eventually it’ll reach somebody who’ll be able to sort it out for you, Leo. I would also agree with Lucy (see above): request the CCTV footage and prove yourself right. The very least you deserve is a profound apology from the airline and a free return tickets of your choice.
I’d take legal action if I were you. I feel her behaviour was disgraceful & she used her position inappropriately. It sounds to me that when you said you’d remember her name, to complain her, she decided the best line of defence is attack & that’s what she did! Maybe you’ll find there are a lot of complaints against her?!?
When you say you became angrier & angrier, well you know anger is an e motion. I’m writing it with the “e” slightly removed, so that you can see, all emotions call us as human being to move, (motion), to action for self.
You’ll know best yourself what action you need to take for yourself. I certainly would take legal advice on this matter. I would do that to protect myself and it sounds to me, like you need too.
Absolutely sick.
I would complain like hell, to the Gardaí, Aer Arann, Aer lingus Regional. I would not let this die until that Air Hostess is held accountable. And if you get nowhere I would send it to every newspaper, newssite & radio show in the country.
Have you checked the legality of releasing her name?
As former Aer Lingus crew I am appalled and not a little embarrassed by your experience. As it is Aer Arann crew who man the regional routes, I would suggest that you complain to both airlines in an attempt to get some satisfaction. I would certainly not be contacting Joe Duffy who I regards as a sensationalist but this is just a personal point of view.
I have, in the past, had many dealings with irate passengers and your account doesn’t sound like you were in any way offensive. I have had passengers arrested but it has been for severe infractions such as physical assault, extremely drunk & disorderly etc.
I think you should follow this through to the very end as this crew member (in my opinion) is in no way indicative of the general type of employee employed by either airline. Aer Lingus is stringent about the importance of good customer service and I’m quite certain her superiors will be very interested to hear your side of the story.
Good luck!
I would consult a lawyer..it would not surprise me, if despite the lack of charges,etc, that you end up on some “watch list” and will be further hassled when you fly in future. It sounds like Miss ***** had a bad day and you were in her sight line. The attitude was unwarranted and certainly so was the police incident. I would also go to the papers. Bad publicity might shame them into an apology, etc.
Horrible experience.
Your story reminded me of this SNL skit:
http://rutube.ru/tracks/1468423.html?v=57fd52f82e268983978e21a6b3933dfa
Dude,
Leave it.
Two words; nurofen plus. Poor Prendo was so upset on his return from a weekend of harmless fun in the UK he accidently took his Johnson out!
Your “ordeal” pales slighly in comparison. Although i am traumatised from having read the whole…… thing.
There are a couple of obvious explanations;
The Hostess was at Glasto too, missed U2 and snogged some loser from Waterford who snogged her mate, the Host the next night. Or;
The Hostess is not from Dublin and realised that she was on her way back to a shitty life of traffic and rip off booze. Or.
Era you know your self; the whole worl is in a state of chasis, suck it up and get ready for the Picnic.
Or take the ferry next time.
Quality.
Complain without a doubt. It may be her word against yours, but her card will be marked and she will be watched. Any more complaints against her and it will vindicate you. in fact there may already have been some and your complaint will not only vindicate yourself but another.
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I’m astonished by this, and I hope you don’t let it go. This woman should not get away with such an abuse of her position.
I was about to note that, having taken approx. 40 flights with Aer Lingus in the past 5 years (France-Ireland), I have found their crew to be outstandingly friendly and helpful. But I see your flight was operated by Aer Arann, with whom I have never flown.
Do not let this go, not until that air hostess Is sacked. I know a girl who would have done anything to have her job, an air hostess Is all she wanted to be, so nice and helpful, that woman doesn’t deserve the position she has. I think you should talk with a solicitor without a doubt especially as you were marked for criminal activity on an airline, It doesn’t matter how small an airline It could come back to seriously harm you someday. I am blown away by the incident but not surprised, these people exist. Take It to the papers, don’t mention names but smoke her out all the staff of the air line will no exactly who she Is and she will be shamed out.
Chase this through the highest channels available, that ignorant bitch needs a new job, down a mine or somewhere there is no public
I’ve no idea about in Ireland but certainly in the UK you can go to Companies House (http://www.companieshouse.gov.uk/) and get the appointments listing for the board of directors (generally their home addresses) and write to them at home (it really annoys them). It bypasses being fobbed off by customer services.
Really poor show from Aer Lingus and their operating partner. As an elite flyer on Aer Lingus I have just written to them to express my shock and annoyance at your story. It is just not acceptable. I would encourage you to to take legal action against the airline. The behavior of the flight attendant is akin to ‘crying fire in a crowded theater.’ Accusations of terrorism etc… must be reserved for real cases, not to seek revenge on a passenger. I assume the airport police offered to take statements from fellow pax?
You need to get in touch with Mark Dunphy. He is head of security with Aer Lingus. Even though this was an Aer Arann aircraft / crew, Aer Lingus has ultimate responsibility as the flight would have been booked through the Aer Lingus website.
Sue for damages amounting from emotional distress, slander and whatever else is appropriate. Another thing to bear in mind is Gardaí responding to a security alert almost certainly armed, which puts your very life on the line. Do not stand by and let this person continue to abuse their position.
Appalling story. Downright disgusting behaviour from someone who clearly abused her position of power and wasted state resources. It beggars belief. Please do complain and follow it through , not only for yourself but also for any other unfortunate individuals who may fall foul of this unpleasant person in the future.
Hi Leo,
I don’t know you, but I thought I ought to comment here to provide some balance to the many people on here advising you to litigate.
I’ve been reading some of your other blog postings and I noted that there is an account of a previous unpleasant experience with the airline in question. In that post you say “The all-encompassing rage that I feel when I am unable to secure one of those seats and file onto the plane to find somebody of <6' sitting in the exit row has quite frequently driven me to distraction."
Based on that posting I could perhaps suggest (as will a solicitor) that you, however understandably, become anxious upon boarding an aircraft for fear that the seating on offer won’t meet your needs. Might I then also suggest, that if I was anxious about the possibility of discomfort for an entire flight, (coupled with the effects of hunger, tiredness and withdrawal of creature comforts) I might barge onto that plane like a bull in a china shop. Under those circumstances, it would be very easy to cause injury or annoyance to someone else without even realising it. E.g. you might have accidentally and unknowingly stepped on her toe or elbowed her in the ribs or something similar. Because you’re not aware of doing anything wrong doesn’t mean you didn’t do it!
I also think you’ve made a mistake posting this information here. You are making serious allegations against a company and an individual. This posting has ‘gone viral’ and it won’t be long before the news media and the company involved get a hold of it. In those circumstances you may find that you are the one who is the defendant in a court of law.
With regards to all of the armchair legal beagles on here (including yours truly): remember that there is nothing so unreliable as unremunerated advice.
Hope it works out for you.
Get the bitch sacked. There is no excuse for that sort of behaviour. That’s just fucking ignorant.
Make a complaint, in writing. Bearing in mind what ensues i think you perhaps should talk to a solicitor. What a piece of work. Reminds me of someone I used work with, a dreadful bully.She lied an wasted significant Garda resources. She should be censured for that. Don’t let it rest!
Talk to a lawyer, and complain – I agree you are at risk of being on lists of troublesome people, so this woman has potentially used her position to cause you a great deal of trouble down the road.
Aer Lingus need to discipline her, and make it very publicly clear that this sort of behaviour is not acceptable because how people are treated on flights into Ireland is far too important for our economy to let this go. They do not need to name her, but if they fail to act, they are effectively saying this sort of thing is ok by them.
People who work in services dealing with the public need to smile and be polite, always, and remember that the customer is king; otherwise, that customer and everyone else who sees the rudness will become someone else’s customer next week. A great many people who are struggling to keep tourism businesses running know that, and keep smiling even as the bank closes in on them, Sadly, there are too many people in this country now who think they are too good for that.
Of course, this is parlty down to a culture in business that only values short term shareholder returns and sees the customer as someone to be ripped off rather than someone to build a strong repeat business relattionship with. This is the sort of raid, pillage and plunder economics that can’t go on winthout ending in disaster – oh waht, it already did!
Mother of Devine, thats an outragous story !
I’m totally with “the bolted nut” on this one. Dont go mouthing off to Joe or the papers until you’ve spoken to a solicitor 1st. Its more than probable that you have a case here and I’m sure your still to traumatised to sleep at night so, I think you should visit your local Gp to get some sedation.
Along with what the bolted nut said its also imperative that you get hold of the CVR ( cockpit voice recorder) on that you will hear exactly what the hostess said to the captain before he called the Airport Police out. If there any hassle getting the CVR get your legal team on to the Irish Aviation Authority and force them to Force EI to give you the copy of the CVR.
There one thing I wouldnt do here and thats “nothing” the individual whom made the allegations needs to be held accountable here, regardless of here mental state after she made them. Get a good legal team on a no foal no fee basis and unleash them on EI.
Leo. I am very interested to see how it all turns out. I do hope you will take action against the employee in question. These kind of people need to know that they cannot be allowed to abuse their position of power.
Just imagine if there had been a terrorist incident occuring at the airport at around the same time and heaven forbid, people had been injured or worse due to officers of the Gardai not being able to attend because they were all ready tied up at a false alarm….. Doesn’t bear thinking about.
can’t agree with posts that recommend you forget about the indecent,..doing that only enables this behaviour to become the acceptable norm,..she told the gardai that you made her fear for her life & the safety of the plane,…F**k sake,…BTW never ever ever ever ever ever ever speak to the gardai or answer any questions,..always seek a solicitor first.
I would be sending this to every newspaper where the airline flys, MPs, every travel blog what a complete nutter, this woman should be dismissed immediately
I’d name and shame, honestly…
call aer lingus and get her the sack, i know this will be ditressing for her and her family, but the other monkeys that work at aer lingus need to know this carry on will not be tolerated
I really hope you make a complaint. Nightmarish customer “service” like this cannot be tolerated! The person should be fired.
sue their asses
Bring them to court – you can make a nice packet for yourslef in the process and get this moron fired.
Hi Leo, at risk of a verbal tarring and feathering from the outraged folk on this page. I must play devil’s advocate.
Despite your thorough and detailed account of the incident, the only person to corroborate your evidence is your friend Mark.
Did you get backup from any independent witnesses? Did you ask for legal representation after being taken into custody? Did you submit a written statement to the Gardai? (Which you are perfectly entitled to do).
If you have neglected to do any of these things, it’s simply your word against hers.
And, on the flip side, if she’s one of the millions of Twitter/Facebook users on the planet chances are she’s blogging about the ‘Annoying, picky customer’ she had to deal with on her last shift of a long day (Her imaginary words, not mine) and getting plenty of sympathy for it too.
Alas, as the saying goes, opinions are like arseholes and the internet is full of both. You’re probably better off complaining driectly to Aer Lingus / Aer Rianta in writing than trying to garner support for your plight in a medium where people think clicking ‘Like’ on an ISPCA page will do one damn thing to help kids in danger.
Best of luck and please don’t be put off Flying / Festivalling….even if Bono is a prick!
Gar.
I really hope people don’t think clicking ‘like’ on an ISPCA page will help kids, unless we’re talking baby goats?
Horrendous! Mind you, my experiences with Ryan Air make this seem like Tinker Toys.
Hi Leo.
The first thing I would advise you to do is to make an appointment to meet with the guards who met you at the airport and arrested you. This way you will be able to make a list of question and bring them with you and get some answers. e.g. Has the hostess made a statement. How long does she have to make a statement? Will this accusation be oon record against your name, regardless of whether she makes a statement or not? Will you be put on any internal “trouble-maker” lists in the airport?
Having gotten this information, I would consider slowly as to what you plan on doing.
Obviously the air hostess was in the wrong. We all have bad days, but to do such a thing is well past “having a bad day”!
What she did could be considered defimation of character. If you decided to take things further, you would probably have to approach Aer Lingus, and not necessarily the individual. I don’t think you should approach Aer Arann about this. You bought the service from Aer Lingus. They were the one providing it.
There is certainly a reason to complain about what happened! It just depends on how far you are planning on taking it.
So contact the guards. Whether you decide to do anything or not, atleast you can see whether this will have future implications!
very well written. I take it you have contacted both the Airlines involved I would personally take an action against the airline but it is up to you have fun and keep us posted
This is a disgraceful incident to have happened to you or anyone. I would most certainly be contacting a solicitor regarding a defamation case.. Aer Lingus, Aer Arann or any company and their employees should not and cannot be allowed to get away with this carry on.
Please please look into wether you’ve been placed on any ‘no-fly’ list, the USA, in particular, are very very techy and you may even be refused a visa, please check this out.
I’d recommend you talk to a lawyer, The accusation was defamatory and she made a false statement to the Gardai which is a criminal offence. This will haunt you unless its cleared up in the proper manner and for that reason I would say ignore any advice you receive unless its from your legal representative. If the facts stated above are true there should be countless witnesses to the incident that should also have their statements taken.
In terms of the Gardai, it actually sounds like they realise what is going on but have to follow protocol. If they suspected that you had actually committed a crime they would not have chatted with you about Glastonbury after the interview and you probably wouldn’t have been let go. They really need to install cameras on the planes to prevent such abuse of power.
Hello Leo,
If all of your account of this incident is true, this is indeed a very serious matter from the point of view of the future security and safety of all airline passengers and air travel generally. Indeed the IAA (www.iaa.ie) should be made aware if the safety of the aircraft and its passengers was in question. It is not something to be in any way complacent about because it has enormous implications for and seriously impacts on work practice and protocols for airline staff and passengers as a whole throughout the world.
In the circumstances I feel very sorry for you that you had to go through such an ordeal on the whim of an obvious false report from an airline employee. This type of thing cannot be allowed to happen again. We Irish tend to forget easily but, we must change for the common good.
Firstly you must employ a good legal firm to thoroughly and professionally handle your case. They will or should know what to do. At this stage you actually owe it to all future airline passengers and even cabin and flight crew. It could also impact on your future air travel plans not to mention your emotional implications.
The comment thus far posted here on this blog all believe you and they now are considerable in number and gaining momentum. I recommend you take heed of specific comments from “The Bolted Nut”, June 30, 2011 at 6:49 am and from the UK, “Simon Farnsworth”, June 30, 2011 at 8:16 am. I cannot seriously go along with those advocating you forget about it.
While I do not wish anybody harm I do very strongly feel that people employed in any way dealing with the public at large need to have the competence, character and calibre required to deal with matters firmly with a proper etiquette without fear, favour, malice or ill-will and with consideration and fairness. It just has to be got right and those that do not come up to the mark should not be employed in such positions.
Good luck with your deliberations and please keep us all posted on developments.
Kind regards.
Arthur O Hara.
Thu 30 Jun 2011 1247 GMT Daylight Time Wk. 26.
I recommend you continue along your current line and follow up every route of inquiry available to you. I wish you luck in your pursuits and hope disciplinary action is taken against the flight attendant.
Also, I found this nifty website (www.RyanAir.com) that also offer flights out of Ireland at competitive rates. Admittedly they are as willing to rob you in broad daylight as any airline, but at least they’ll be polite and nonchalant when they ask for your wallet, keys and any personal belongings.
Solicitor’s letter, Leo, once the Gardai clear you of all wrongdoing. Get your solicitor to request a full and unconditional apology for how you were treated in light of the Gardai failing to press charges (once they confirm they won’t be doing so.) Your solicitor should also hint at the possibility of a civil action against the airline and the individual in question.
The likely response will be a grovelling apology couched in mealy-mouthed nonsense about security protocols and the offer of free flights.
Me, I’d take it all the way to a civil action, but then I’d be a little hypersensitive to being made out to be a terrorist.
This IS outrageous. I am from the states and have seen some pretty shotty customer service on flights, but this beats them all. She sounds like an awful awful representation of Aer Lingus and their partner company. If they had any business sense about them, they would get in contact with you and the garda in order to apologize (at least). Much needed PR work is necessary. I was deciding between Aer Lingus and another airline for my upcoming travels around Europe and I will definently be choosing the competitor airline. I will also be passing this story along to many people who will be disgusted, until you inform us through your blog that the situation has been resolved. Best of Luck!
There’s also a good chance you looked like the last bloke that broke up with her…
Pity you named her publicly on a certain social networking site. Might come back to bite if you go down the legal route.
Regards bob.
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Your friend was seated next to you throughout. He is your witness. Lay a formal complaint via a solicitor and follow it through. At least your action will send a message to her and all her mates. Let us all know how you get on…
I have encountered this very same situation and in fact heard of one other similar case. The incident I saw made me feel very uncomfortable because of the casual attitude the staff took to treating people in such a way and is a worrying indicator, to my mind, that they might be making too much of a habit of this.
I witnessed a family on a Ryanair flight being treated rudely after what appeared to be a very polite and reasonable request. When the grandfather simply made it known that he was unhappy at being spoken to like that (as anyone feeling responsible for a confused and distressed family might) the steward walked off in a huff. All staff consequently were rude at worst and indifferent at best towards them and it must have been the journey from hell. Didn’t hear a peep out of them after the initial minute/minute and a half exchange before though. Police cars were waiting for them at Stansted.
Should you complain? Please, please do! I never expected that the family were about to be whisked away by the authorities on arrival and so I hardly had time to think about coming forward and offering to be a witness for them. My friend and I said how guilty we felt afterwards.
The steward was TOTALLY to blame for any tension and failed both at his job and as a decent human being. But I don’t think he could have acted so confidently and assuredly in alerting the police if he didn’t think there would be no consequences for him. He knew he would be fine and they would be the ones made to suffer. I know I can’t say for sure but I really don’t think these are one-offs.
If it helps, my friend and I could see it for the injustice it was and the discomfort of other passengers was palpable. You might be surprised to find out how the other people on the plane actually felt.
This ‘flight attendant’ (hormonal pratt) should be arrested for wasting police time, and sacked !
Go to the media with this. You are right in saying that any staff member who calls security should be held accountable. Those were serious accusations and your reputation has indeed been tarnished. You are now ‘known to the Gardaí’ and only clearing your name by having this woman (and any witnesses – including other staff) tell the whole truth to clear the matter. Her behaviour was unacceptable. It’s horrifying to think an innocent person can be branded like that for no other reason than, someone else is having a bad-hair day.
Go to the media……plaster this woman’s bad behaviour all over the papers. She needs to apologize. AerLingus need to apologize PUBLICLY!
Best of luck with this
Holy crapping crap! The previous comments have said it all, but do definitely consult a solicitor. Good luck.
What a dreadful experience. You most certainly should and must make a complaint. We Irish are too willing to take any crap trown at us whether in restaurants or in your case Airlines. We pay through the nose like everyone else and deserve the service we pay for. I work in the service industry and if treated my customers like that I would not have a business. A chat with a newspaper reporter would not be a waste of time. Talk to your solicitor straight away. Good luck.
This is absolutely appalling – I’m ever so sorry for your troubles, & you should absolutely complain. I’ve only ever had one issue with a flight attendant who tried to confiscate by mp3 player on an aer lingus flight, telling me it would interfere with the flight controls. I politely explained it (a) wasnt on & (b) there was no way in hell it could possibly interfere with any navigation aid. She got stroppy & told me I was wrong, she had flown for years & knew better than me. I then politely asked her to explain how it could cause problems because as a doctor of physics I’d be eager to know. She relented after that, but gave me daggers. Most of my aer lingus attendants have been lovely though.
Also the no phones on a plane rule is nonsense, I’ll try to blog about why it came to be when I get a chance. Sorry again for your troubles, don’t let it go!
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Hey Leo, I was sitting directly behind you on that flight and lets face it you’re painting a very one sided picture here. They were very wrong not giving you back the right change and the attendant in question was off her trolly [excuse the pun] but you were no angel yourself and you became very threatening in your body language. You probaly wont publish this comment as I’m giving a witness account but your behaviour was so threatening that I’m leaving an anon comment!
Hi P, thanks for you comment. I am disappointed that you left this comment as anonymous, and I am at pains to understand how you think that I was being threatening in my body language. I never once raised my voice, I never once made any threatening gesture, I never stood out of my seat, nor did I make any personal threat toward this woman. All that I said that I was going to do was make a complaint about her. I am not sure how that can be construed as threatening. But thank you for the comment, and as you can see, i have published it.
You probably are feeling very aggrieved by your experiance but from my viewpoint looking towards the attendent it did look like you were ‘staring out’ her while figuring out a way to make your own complaint regarding the stupid non return of your change. When I first read this I did take it as someone [you] plainly in the wrong but playing the victim and wrongly telling thousands of people that you were hard done by. As I said you probably do feel very aggrived by the embarassing situation you were in.
You’re pretty anonymous yourself (I can’t find your full name anyway), most people commenting on this site are anonymous and you have a problem with P? Is that because she contradicts your story?
Thats shitty enough lad to be fair, but like you said here protected by the Montreal Convention (which is a joke) so you don’t have a leg to stand on, your not the first person to have a shitty flight experience and sadly you won’t be the last, as the case of one person every now and then isn’t going to be enough to get that legislation changed. Sucks but there you go, id consider just moving on and getting over it instead of chasing it to no avail. Up to you but you’ve prob got better things to be doing to be looking back in a month or two pissed off that your efforts got you no where
“p sitting behind you” being anonymous certainly makes it look like you are Aer Lingus. No one likes people being threatening on a plane but a few lines, no details and no name-we all know companies do stuff like this to defend themselves.
also have you made a facebook group or anything about this that we could join?
Anne the reason why I’ve stayed Anon is because I seen the threatening behaviour I’ve described and to be honest I don’t want any of it coming my way. I know it’s a shit excuse but I happened to chance upon this article through twitter and felt compelled to comment. I know that air attendant felt scared and intimidated and don’t really want to correspond personally to someone who would do that.
Have to agree with Anne here. “I seen” has been the vernacular of many Air Lingus troll-ey dollies, in my experience.
It is possible to trace the digital trail and IP of this anonymous post via the wordpress server. A full legal request would have to be made. It would cost more than it is probably worth in all of the circumstances!
Such post leaves a lot to be desired.
Anything anonymous should and will be treated with the contempt with which it is written.
The author is so precise it is obvious who is behind the post!
This doesn’t surprise me.
I once had an Aer LIngus flight attendant imply I had a drinking problem because I brought a small bottle of wine onto the flight (this was after I asked why bringing my own small bottle of wine onto the 40 min flight posed a security risk).
I was going to complain, but didn’t think there was any point. So I didn’t complaint in the end.
And people rant about Ryanair. I’ve had much better customer service from Ryanair flight staff than Aer Lingus
Oh! Oh! Oh! I’ve got one! Ready?? ……. How did you pay for your second drink? as in…what change did you use?
Which second drink Steve?
The fact that she withdrew her complaint says it all really. I hope she is mortified and reckon she deserves to be named.
The swines, how dare they!
Suggest P goes to their local Garda station to make a witness statement about what they saw.
This goes on all the time. Unfortunately I wasn’t so calm and collect and paid the price. I was travelling to the US for some celebrations. We flew from Dublin to Chicago on an Aer Lingus flight. I found out later the crew (Shannon based) on board were a last minute assignment for some reason and weren’t due to be on this flight. Anyway they got a great kick out of ignoring customers for most of the flight. My friend and I tried umpteen times to get drinks on the journey but were either ignored or forgotten about. After some time one hostess did come to us and we ordered a couple of bottles of Champagne. She replied with a smirk with you will have to pay for them there not free . Yes that’s fine not a problem we said but they never came. We asked a second time and were then told the didn’t have any left. We then settled on some beers which didn’t come for at least half an hour. A couple sitting about 3 rows a head had champagne, drinks and service every 10 or 15 mins. We and the other passengers in our area couldn’t believe this behaviour. It turns out they were Aer Lingus employees and were going on honeymoon. So on our 10 hour trip we managed to but buy 2 drinks each. Our meals were cold and despite pressing the service button above no one tended to us. When they came to collect the empty dinner trays we mentioned they were cold. She asked if they were cold why did we not make it known. We told her we tired but no one came event though we had requested service through the service button above us. She said well you have eaten your cold meal so it can’t have been that bad ! When we got to Chicago I made my way to a smoking area which was outside. It was something like – 20 or so it was only going to be a quick fag. We ended up there over half an hour chatting with other passengers who were on the flight and had experienced the same service. The hostesses were downright rude and I would go as far as to say trying to wind up passengers. Quiet a few passengers said they would never fly with them again and were going to complain on their return.
The way back ….
We were in Las Vegas and were to fly back to Chicago for the return flight. Most of the northern states were battling with extreme winter storms and alot of airports were closed and flights canceled. We checked in and were told they would have to route us a different way. I think there were 3 flights involved and it was all going to be a bit of journey. We set off and found ourselves running from terminals to terminals and more canceled flights and yet more changes We were zigzagging all over the mid states. We kept checking the status of the Dublin flight and would you believe it it was about the only fight still on time with status ok. We eventually made it to Chicago and right enough our flight was on time and not canceled. I thought to my self there is no way I am going through the return flight without a drink after our day of travel. We bought some duty free and had a few pints before boarding. We recognised 2 of the same Shannon crew and just couldn’t believe it. Anyway with that in mind I decided to help my self to my duty free. BAD MOVE ! being so tired it went to my head! I argued with the hostesses and was generally a pain in the ass for the flight. I apologise to any passengers around me I travel extensively and never once had a problem in the past. Anyway cut a long story short the police were waiting when he plane disembarked and I was escorted to the station. I was later charged and fined for my behaviour. I am not trying to justify what I did it was totally wrong and I shouldn’t have done it. I do feel however that this particular crew had wound me up sufficiently to go over the top on this occasion . I have travelled with Aer Lingus since (not long haul never again) and most of the crews are really professional and well mannered. I don’t drink on flights anymore full stop.
You ought to name and shame the flight attendant in question.
I have had a similar experience with an are lingus member of staff at the desks and found your blog when I googled how to make a complaint. I just couldn’t believe what the woman behind the desk was saying to me, not to mention her tone and the withering looks. I have never been treated like that by anyone, for such a simple transaction… To think that she is an ambassador of sorts to our country is frightening.
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Aer Lingus has gone from being my preferred airline to one I avoid whenever possible. As a US based 200,000+ mile per year traveller I see plenty of airlines. It seems to me that the Michael O’Leary (Ryanair) approach to customer service has spread to Aer Lingus. Customers that have a choice will not put up with this airline for long. Aer Lingus promoted their transatlantic routes as a gateway to Europe for years and I used it regularly… their ‘céad míle fáilte’ has rapidly become a ‘Póg mo thóin!’
Your experience is bringing to mind something similar, but much much worse, that I read last year in which a passenger was taken off a plane, was arrested, abused, and left with a record. I think it was in the States. The air seems to be a kind of legal wild west :(