Flight delayed due to gang of unruly crabs
A flight from New York to Charlotte was delayed after a gang of angry crabs escaped in the hold. Luckily steely fingered staff managed to contain them and the unharmed passengers were on their way just 30 minutes later than scheduled.
Seat reclining wars
The summer of 2014 will be remembered for the legroom wars. Fed up with minimal legroom on flights, passengers resorted to using the Knee Defender – a plastic device to block the seat in front from being reclined. The device sparked several rows between passengers which resulted in a New York to Denver flight diverting to Chicago and a Miami to Paris flight diverting to Boston.
Cigarette break causes a delay in JFK
In JFK airport in New York, a man had the audacity to take a cigarette break after going through security screening. He then returned through a gate that wasn’t open, causing screening to be halted for 90 minutes as airport security looked into the breach. This caused all American Airlines flights at the terminal to be delayed by an hour.
UK Foreign Office spends £2.4m on VIP airport suites
Between 2010 and 2014, the UK Foreign Office managed to rack up a total bill of £2.4m for using exclusive lounges at home and abroad. While most of us were stuck in economy dreading a knee defender or sitting next to drunk passengers, more than £2m was lavished on visiting dignitaries and heads of state to keep them comfortable in the skies.
Ryanair’s controversial bikini calendar
Low-cost carrier Ryanair was forced to ditch its controversial calendar featuring cabin crew wearing bikinis as a result of a petition against the ‘sexist’ and ‘demeaning’ calendar originally released in 2011. CEO Michael O’Leary claimed that these types of calendar no longer fit with the airline’s new family-friendly image.
Rats on a plane!
An aircraft carrying 200 passengers was overrun with stowaway rodents and grounded amid fears they would chew through the electrical wires. The Air India crew found the furry intruders as the aircraft landed in New Delhi.
26-hour flight delay hell
Virgin Atlantic paid £47,000 in compensation to passengers who ran a Facebook group to complain about a flight delay which lasted 26 hours. Passengers were delayed back in October 2012 and the payout comes on the back of the Huzar ruling in June that airlines cannot reject compensation claims on technical defects.
EasyJet cabin manager jailed for smuggling cigarettes
The ring-leader of a group of flight attendants, who used an airline’s staff discount to smuggle cigarettes through UK airports, has been jailed for 21 months. It was found that the easyJet cabin manager had organised more than 130 smuggling trips, with the gang hiding cigarettes and tobacco in their luggage to avoid paying £180,000 in duty and taxes.
This round-up was published by Flightright, the consumer portal for air passenger compensation for delayed, cancelled or overbooked flights.
