LETTER:BA in the drink

From Ms Margaret Philips

Sir: I was interested to read your short article "BA targets drunks" (29 September), because I wrote to BA, in January, complaining about two passengers seated next to me on a 24-hour flight from Sydney to London, who drank continuously. Every 15 minutes they each ordered two beers and two spirit chasers. They were noisy, disruptive and, in my view, unsafe. The cabin staff were quite happy to keep serving them.

Two hours before landing at Heathrow, the person next to me, who had passed out with her head over the table, threw up over everything in sight. Here is an extract from the letter I received from Customer Relations:

While it may seem firmer action by our cabin staff could have alleviated the problem, there is always a greater danger of creating greater unpleasantness if requests for drinks are refused; intervention can sometimes inflame the situation. The number of passengers who persist in this type of behaviour is very small and our staff are normally able to contain the problem.

Yours faithfully,

M. Philips

London, NW6