Advice on escalating an Airline gripe....

[skippybangkok]

Pretty serious case, my elderly mother almost died flying from Oz to Europe, not the airline issue, but just her blood pressure dropped very un expectantly. Good news is we got her home safe, and she is doing well, but the airline stranded her in their hub. They claim it was because of her condition, but actually was was cleared by the Airline ( airport ) physician to go home, but boarding staff did not let her board, claiming she had to be cleared by "their" physician, which turned out to be the same guy.

 

Anyway, they are playing the corporate politics game " for her safety, we wanted her to rest", but its trollup as we have an extremely detailed write up of the event.

 

Will take it to the next level, snail mail to all board of directors, but was wondering if anyone knows of ie regulatory bodies ie IATA which we can approach too.

 

Very disgusted with how they treated an old frail women who went through a life threatening experience .

 

Thanks 

 

 

[CNXBKKMAN]

I am not sure how successful you will be in your complaint. If the airlines policy is that their doctor has to clear the passenger as fit to fly and you hadn't done this the airline staff were probably right in not letting your mother fly. The doctor himself probably could have advised you of this and the airline staff at the hub should have spelled it out when you were reorganising the onward flight. This seems to be where the airline could have done better. 

[skippybangkok]

I am not sure how successful you will be in your complaint. If the airlines policy is that their doctor has to clear the passenger as fit to fly and you hadn't done this the airline staff were probably right in not letting your mother fly. The doctor himself probably could have advised you of this and the airline staff at the hub should have spelled it out when you were reorganising the onward flight. This seems to be where the airline could have done better. 

Thanks - she was cleared by the Airlibe Dr.

Trying to board many hours later with clearance report in hand , boarding staff refused boarding as " need to see the Airlne Dr"

The sent her to "their Dr" who was the same guy. He was baffeled as to why she was not in the flight

She was so stressed by this her blood pressure dropped and she almost went into shock


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[KittenKong]

It is always the airline's decision (and ultimately the captain's) whether to allow a passenger to travel or not, and quite right too in my opinion. It sounds as though they were just being careful. Maybe they wanted an up to date clearance if the original one was done hours before?

The only thing you could complain about would be if they had failed to assist her, by not helping to find accomodation or food or medical attention, or by putting her somewhere uncomfortable. Even then the airline has no responsibility to pay for those things if they are a result of a passenger's illness. That's what travel insurance is for.

[natway09]

Feel happy that you got her home still warm.

All those people had her best interests at heart.

Let it go 

[sanemax]

Its about time that your Mother gave up flying long distance .

24 hour flights are arduous as it is, without being old and frail

[malibukid]

had a terrible experience with Thai Airways flying from TKO to CNX.  no assistance after having surgery in the States.  United, Star Alliance have also tried to contact them.  no apologies, nothing from them.  i requested and confirmed a SSR when booking this flight in Tokyo.  they are the worst.  first and last time i fly with them. has anyone else had a similar experience?

Edited July 17, 2018 by malibukid

[skippybangkok]

Its about time that your Mother gave up flying long distance .
24 hour flights are arduous as it is, without being old and frail

Yep


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[joebrown]

I would never fly with a UAE based airline again and now always fly direct when visiting Europe. One incident started in Doha and continued in-flight when a drunken male was allowed to travel, and the other was a complaint about a stop-over in Amman when passengers were kept waiting for transport to pre-arranged hotel accommodation. The staff at the hotel were not very happy having to check-in 20 passengers at 02.00hrs, most of whom were directed to unprepared rooms. (no towels etc).

I wrote to both airlines but never even received an acknowledgment. Enough said!!  

[skippybangkok]

I would never fly with a UAE based airline again and now always fly direct when visiting Europe. One incident started in Doha and continued in-flight when a drunken male was allowed to travel, and the other was a complaint about a stop-over in Amman when passengers were kept waiting for transport to pre-arranged hotel accommodation. The staff at the hotel were not very happy having to check-in 20 passengers at 02.00hrs, most of whom were directed to unprepared rooms. (no towels etc).
I wrote to both airlines but never even received an acknowledgment. Enough said!!  

Yep - Abu Dhabi


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[sandyf]

On 7/17/2018 at 9:03 AM, KittenKong said:

It is always the airline's decision (and ultimately the captain's) whether to allow a passenger to travel or not, and quite right too in my opinion. It sounds as though they were just being careful. Maybe they wanted an up to date clearance if the original one was done hours before?
 

Quite, far better than a diversion into the unknown. Last year a friend of mine was on his way to Thailand and had to divert into some out of the way place somewhere near Pakistan for a medical emergency, hate to think where the patient ended up.