Dozens of British holidaymakers headed for Spain had their flight delayed by more than three hours because their plane’s crew were SLEEPING.
The passengers who were awaiting their flight from Aberdeen to Barcelona on Sunday morning were told the crew had been kept awake at their hotel by a wedding party.
British Airways ordered its staff to have an added sleep break, delaying the departure Aberdeen International until 9.50am – three hours 20 minutes after the scheduled 6.30am time.
Angry passengers turned to social networks to berate the airline for its poor organisation.
Andrew Wyness posted on twitter: “Sitting in Aberdeen when I should be flying to Barcelona due to a resting crew. #sloppylogistics #couldbeavoided.”
One passenger, who did not want to be named, added: “We were told by a member of British Airways staff that the crew had been disturbed by a noisy wedding party below the accommodation at their hotel.
“This was after we had been kept waiting for nearly four hours in the departure lounge.
“BA haven’t offered us any compensation, but I’ll certainly be looking into it.”
British Airways claimed it didn’t have a replacement crew available to stand in for the tired airline staff.
A spokesperson said: “Our crew and cabin crew are required by law to have certain rest periods between operating flights and if that is disrupted then we have to make appropriate measures.
“Regardless of this particular issue, the alternative measures in certain circumstances might mean a replacement crew being brought in if requirements haven’t been met.
“But obviously if you don’t have a replacement crew then you gave to take other relevant measures to deal with that situation.
“This particular incident is still something that we are still looking into.
“We apologise to our customers for the delay, but the flight had to be delayed for operational reasons.
“These decisions are based on safety and security which are two principles we will never compromise.”
A spokesperson for Aberdeen International added: “It looks like the delay was a one-off. Our operations ran as normal the rest of the day.
“We can’t comment on it as it is related to the BA crew members.”
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Just visit TripAdvisor site and see how thousands of hotel guests regularly complain about noise coming from wedding parties. I’d blame not only the hotel manager/owner but also the bride/bridegroom. Part of the responsibility is also on their shoulder to make sure somebody else is not suffering and cursing them because of what they are doing. When you can have fun and inflict pain on others, it tells so much about the kind of empathy-less person you are