Austman
Established Member
- Joined
- Sep 21, 2007
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- Qantas
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I was flying NAN-SYD yesterday in J-class on a Qantas ticket (QF392), operated by Air Pacific (FJ911).
This 09:00 service eventually left at 16:38. But I was informed of the delay (then estimated to be 14:20 departure) by a Qantas SMS the day before.
Most J-class passengers were in the Air Pacific lounge when boarding was announced. I was down the far end of the lounge, so some of the lounge passengers beat me to the gate area, which is an escalator ride upstairs.
It was a pretty full 747 and the gate area was a bit of a mess - with quite long lines. I was in row 1 and wanted to get on board fairly quickly because I knew there were no overhead lockers at row 1. I saw some of the other lounge passengers on the far right hand side of the gate area where there was a sign stating that this lane was a Priority Lane for Tabua Club and Business Class. I made my way over there (the other pax were already through by this time) and told the person I was cutting in front of that I was using the Business Class Priority Lane as per the sign.
A moment later I was tapped on the shoulder by a man behind me, who was holding a child. He announced that he wanted to 'deck' me and was only not going to do so because he was holding the child. He was upset that I had jumped into the line in front of him. I pointed to the sign (now right beside me) and showed him my Business Class BP. He repeat his threat to use violence against me several more times and insisted he had more priority than me (because of the child). At this point a lady, who I assumed was his partner, then accused me of pushing in front of her too, without saying anything. She also claimed to be pregnant.
I told the man to stop making violent threats or I would report him and he might not be flying. A minute later I was at the gate and did exactly that. The man then suddenly changed his attitude and claimed that he had never made any threats of violence at all. The lady backed him up. The Gate Agent asked what I wanted to do and I decided to leave it - the flight was late enough already and everyone was having a bit of a bad travel day.
On board, all the other passengers in row 1 were already seated. I discussed the incident with them and then considered that the man might cause me further problems in Sydney. So I decided to chat to the Air Pacific Airport Services Manager on board. We did a tour of the aircraft but I couldn't see the man or the lady. It was a bit hard to do as passengers were still boarding.
The Air Pacific Airport Services Manager suggested I report the incident in an email.
It was a first for me - I use Priority Boarding, which is a publicised and even a sign-posted benefit, only to have violent threats made against me! Even if I wasn't entitled to cut in, threatening to 'deck' another passenger is a bit much.
Air Pacific could also police the Priority Lane better - there was no-one doing that.
This 09:00 service eventually left at 16:38. But I was informed of the delay (then estimated to be 14:20 departure) by a Qantas SMS the day before.
Most J-class passengers were in the Air Pacific lounge when boarding was announced. I was down the far end of the lounge, so some of the lounge passengers beat me to the gate area, which is an escalator ride upstairs.
It was a pretty full 747 and the gate area was a bit of a mess - with quite long lines. I was in row 1 and wanted to get on board fairly quickly because I knew there were no overhead lockers at row 1. I saw some of the other lounge passengers on the far right hand side of the gate area where there was a sign stating that this lane was a Priority Lane for Tabua Club and Business Class. I made my way over there (the other pax were already through by this time) and told the person I was cutting in front of that I was using the Business Class Priority Lane as per the sign.
A moment later I was tapped on the shoulder by a man behind me, who was holding a child. He announced that he wanted to 'deck' me and was only not going to do so because he was holding the child. He was upset that I had jumped into the line in front of him. I pointed to the sign (now right beside me) and showed him my Business Class BP. He repeat his threat to use violence against me several more times and insisted he had more priority than me (because of the child). At this point a lady, who I assumed was his partner, then accused me of pushing in front of her too, without saying anything. She also claimed to be pregnant.
I told the man to stop making violent threats or I would report him and he might not be flying. A minute later I was at the gate and did exactly that. The man then suddenly changed his attitude and claimed that he had never made any threats of violence at all. The lady backed him up. The Gate Agent asked what I wanted to do and I decided to leave it - the flight was late enough already and everyone was having a bit of a bad travel day.
On board, all the other passengers in row 1 were already seated. I discussed the incident with them and then considered that the man might cause me further problems in Sydney. So I decided to chat to the Air Pacific Airport Services Manager on board. We did a tour of the aircraft but I couldn't see the man or the lady. It was a bit hard to do as passengers were still boarding.
The Air Pacific Airport Services Manager suggested I report the incident in an email.
It was a first for me - I use Priority Boarding, which is a publicised and even a sign-posted benefit, only to have violent threats made against me! Even if I wasn't entitled to cut in, threatening to 'deck' another passenger is a bit much.
Air Pacific could also police the Priority Lane better - there was no-one doing that.