One too many

ONE TOO MANY (THE UK AVIATION INDUSTRY)

Not a week goes by when you don’t read a story in the UK media about passengers behaving badly on a flight after consuming large amounts of alcohol.

Perhaps the most high profile example in July involved a London PR agency owner unsuccessfully taking British Airways to court after he claimed a group of tattooed Newcastle United fans on a flight to Las Vegas had behaved in a threatening manner,.

He says this included them putting their feet up on his head-rest and blocking his seat back TV after sharing twenty bottles of wine on board.

In response to the overall problem, a group of industry bodies has launched

the “One too many” campaign. This includes the UK Travel Retail Forum (UKTRF), the Airports Operators Association (AOA), the International Air Transport Association (IATA) and Airlines UK (AUK) together.

The ‘One too Many’ campaign seeks to remind passengers of the consequences of drinking too much when travelling. This includes a diversion fee up to £80,000 for the most serious in-flight incidents.

The campaign is being rolled out via a national Facebook and Instagram social media campaign and in ten pilot airports across the UK, including Gatwick, Stansted, Manchester, Birmingham, Bristol and East Midlands Airports.

Onboard together by Jet2

Though airlines have welcomed the initiative, a number claim it doesn’t go far enough.

One is UK leisure airline Jet2. In a statement, Jet2 MD Phil Ward pointed to the fact the airline has been running an initiative called “Onboard Together” since 2015, yet “incidents of disruptive passenger behaviour caused by drinking to excess show no sign of reducing.”

As a result, he called for further measures including “sealed bags preventing the illicitconsumption of duty free alcohol in the airport and onboard the aircraft, to more rigorouslicensing standards in airports.”

The airline says that Onboard Together “confirms our commitment to improving all ourcustomers’ travel experience. We are very proud of this policy and we know that our customersvalue it too.”

Indeed, while other airlines might want to hide incidents where disruptive passengers are thrown off aircraft, Jet2 actively publicises them.

For example, in 2017 the airline removed a hen party from an East Midlands Airport to Majorca flight, due to one of the party wearing an “offensive” t-shirt and according to a Daily Mail report ripping it off in front of other passengers as well as using ‘colourful’ language towards staff.

The case was covered extensively in the UK media, with the hen party initiallypainting themselves as victims of overzealous airline staff. In response, VirginAtlantic boss Sir Richard Branson offered them free flights to Las Vegas.

Jet2 stuck to its guns in the incident, releasing a post on its website titled “It’syour party and you’ll fly if you want to…but respect our crew and customers.”

In a dig at Virgin Atlantic, Jet2 also stated that “there is probably another airlinewilling to compromise its principles and the satisfaction of other customers forcheap self-promotion.”

Other examples of Jet2 acting towards abusive customers, which have been published on the Jet2 website include a stag party being offloaded and met by Police in Toulouse on a Birmingham to Ibiza flight, and singer Kyle Falconer (who the airline calls the “Air Rage Rockstar”) being ordered to pay Jet2 £14,000 in costs following disruption on a Glasgow - Reus flight.

Another airline which has been calling for tougher action is Ryanair. In June,the airline called for no alcohol sales before 10am at airports and a two drinklimit for passengers in airport pubs and bars.

Key takeaway - the importance of following up your public statements:

If you are a hen or a stag party lining up the pints in an airport pub or bar at 6am, then our suspicion is a series of airport posters or social media posts publicising the ‘One Too Many’ campaign won’t make a huge amount of difference.

As a result, you could argue that the target audience of the campaign is the wider travelling public who want some kind of reassurance that action will be taken.

That is why Jet2’s “Onboard Together” initiative is noteworthy. The airline is reassuring passengers while also following through in actually being tough on air-rage style incidents when they occur - and publicising this fact.

This is very much on-brand, as it underpins other family-friendly campaigns such as the Ultimate School Trip (our cover story in May).

It also turns potentially bad PR incidents into good PR. Alcohol consumption is part of popular culture and everyday social life in Northern Europe. People accept that once in a while someone who has had too much to drink ends up on board. What they do look out for though is airline’s policy and reaction.

Here, Jet2 wins points for consistency, and we imagine many parents with children going on holiday will be reassured by it.

Which makes the British Airways case of the businessman looking for compensation following his experience on a flight to Las Vegas all the more puzzling.

While it is no surprise that BA defended itself in court, the Newcastle Chronicle reports that the airline’s lawyers told the court “It’s difficult to say what the staff could have done.

“They told the passengers to sit down and stop harassing other passengers and they were ignored...BA cannot be held responsible for the actions of its passengers, for whom it is not vicariously liable.”

From a perception point of view, this gives the impression that if there are enough of you and if you are strong enough, you’ll get away with it. Ideally the case should have been followed up with some kind of statement reassuring customers about the official BA policy.