Our position as set out in our previous email remains unaltered

 I have had an interesting exchange of correspondence with a budget airline over these last weeks. This was in their last email so an impasse seems to have arisen. Let me explain the background.

Last month I was going to join my pals Eamonn and Catherine (and dog) on a boat sailing up the Irish coast so had to catch a pretty early flight over to a Southern Irish airport using said budget airline.

I got up really early in the morning at my sister's house in Hackney, cycled on my first ever Lime bike to catch the bus from Stratford, and I arrived completely early enough to have cleared security one hour before the posted flight time. Phew.

However when I got through, the departure screens said 'Relax' and gave a revised departure time about two hours later. So I relaxed and had a fried breakfast (and incidentally squished the whole yolk of a fried egg over my trousers, but I thought boaters don't have to be all that clean so never mind). And as I looked up from my eggy accident I realised that the board in the restaurant had changed. It now said 'Gate Closed' Hmmm.

So I went towards the now posted gate and indeed the flight had closed without me (and about 12 others, I found out) and was now ready to cross the Irish Sea. It in fact departed at the originally planned time and not at the much later time which had been sitting up on the screens since I arrived. 

I boggled a bit and wondered if I had been in some kind of fugue or wormhole, but no, it was clear that only the time on the board had changed, not the whole temporal arrangement of West Essex. So I went to the rather long queue at the service desk. I could see on my phone that there was one more ticket left on the afternoon flight to the same location, so as I was on a short trip and could afford it, I shelled out nearly 250 quid for a ticket on that flight. Not very budget any more. 

I asked about the wrong information and the service person (who was very nice to me and to the other passengers) said that the information on the signs was solely the responsibility of the Airport authority. So I took the contacts for the airport and also for the budget airline. I am quite interested to find out how mistakes happen in organisations, and was also fairly keen to get my 250 quid back. 

As I have said elsewhere, I was informed of a treatable but incurable blood cancer diagnosis on this very trip, so it was memorable in at least two ways. And when I got back I followed up with the budget airline and the airport to find out who had dropped the ball. It turns out, after email confirmation from both organisations that it was clearly a mistake by the budget airline. I even have a time scale. The airline told the airport at 4:10 about the departure being delayed so they put it up on the board. The airline presumably realised their mistake in time to post the gate closed information half an hour before the flight. Gate closes half an hour before the flight, and if your gate has not been announced at all you would need to have the bilocational powers of Padre Pio to get to the gate in time. And it would also be closed when you arrived/materialised.

So my exchange with the airline started from a fairly certain sense of the justice of my plea, but they wouldn't budge. They were polite but intransigent, even when I asked them to confirm that despite it being clearly their fault they were taking no responsibility for it. The last mail seems to be their last word on the matter. 

But I have just started a blog in which I discuss my incurable cancer diagnosis - one received on the trip which they facilitated - and I also include other topics such as language and er, travel problems. 

Now I haven't named the airline, nor would I as that seems a bit unneccessarily emotionally manipulative. However I am going to send them the link to my blog and particularly to this post, just in case it changes their minds. I hasten to add I have had very good service from this enterprise in the past and the flight I eventually caught was tip-top. Their staff are of course following protocols and procedures and instructions laid down by their management, up through all the levels of seniority to the top. I would not want any member of staff to suffer in any way for the actions of their superiors. 

However, I am going to send them the link and I will tell you how I get on. I think they may see sense, but in some ways I would be more impressed if they just said "'Sod off, sickie! No refunds!" They probably won't, but if they do I will of course name them, and I have all the receipts.

I will also suggest that they refund the fares of the dozen or so other passengers who missed the flight.

One of my favourite lines in Hilary Mantel's glorious Wolf Hall is when the Duke of Norfolk has to ask for the help of Cromwell, who he hates with a passion strong. As Cromwell walks across the room he says to himself:

“If life is a chain of gold, sometimes God hangs a charm on it.”

God, I'm enjoying this.