Waiting for late passengers to board the plane

[walletss]

On my last trip to Bangkok, I found my patience wearing thin as the entire plane had to wait 90 minutes for a late passenger who decided to complete her duty free shoppng before leaving Melbourne.

My face nearly turned purple when the passenger boarded the flight smiling and grinning and the mainly Filipino passengers thought it was funny and started applauding.

I really felt like grabbing one of her plastic bags and beating her about the head with it.

Current regulations stipulate that if a passenger has checked her luggage ( note I said her), the plane cannot take off unless her luggage is removed from the aircraft.

When I asked the cabin attendant why they don't just dump her luggage and take off, she told me that on a plane that size it would take two hours to locate the luggage and it usually makes more sense to wait.

This is not the first time this has happened .

I can't see why a person who does this shouldn't be liable for a fine.

$500 US. would be about right I think.

[Zaad]

I understand your problem.

It's riduculous and they should find a solution for this sort of nonsense.

A fine, or simply take off and fuck her lugguge...that should be the owner's responsibility whether or not to board the plane after check in.

 

Anyway..simply waiting for passeners isn't the right solution.

IMHO responsibility over 200+ passengers easily outweighs that single selfish one.

[lopburi3]

That luggage might just contain a bomb. That is the reason it must be removed.

 

And unless you know for sure there may be other reasons than shopping. I have been late due to connecting flight being diverted to the other end of airport when it takes 15 minutes to get to gate - bags made it fine but doors were closing when I arrived (and this was a scheduled connection with plenty of time under normal conditions). I got the cold shoulder due no fault of my own. On last flight from SEA to DEN had to wait two hours for a connection flight from Alaska full of fishermen and all their luggage (fish) to be transferred. Did not make my day (or the pilots) but managed to understand the reason.

 

Zaad said:

I understand your problem.

It's riduculous and they should find a solution for this sort of nonsense.

A fine, or simply take off and fuck her lugguge...that should be the owner's responsibility whether or not to board the plane after check in.

 

Anyway..simply waiting for passeners isn't the right solution.

IMHO responsibility over 200+ passengers easily outweighs that single selfish one.

[walletss]

" A fine, or simply take off and fuck her lugguge..."

 

Unfortunately they won't just take off and fuck her luggage. Too easy to blow up a plane that way. Security will never allow it.

A stiff fine would help bring wayward passengers into line.

[BelgianBoy]

walletss said:

$500 US. would be about right I think.

 

Per passenger I would hope !!!

 

Happened to me as well, Paris to Guadeloupe, more than 10 years ago, 1 passenger did not show up, pilot decided to unload the luggage.

So all the luggage is on the tarmack, and each and every passanger has to walk out indicate his/her luggage to be reloaded.

We left Paris 3 1/2 hours late, but glad we went through this whole effort, did not want to die over the ocean.

 

Misses the last daylight to have a dip in the ocean

 

BB

[think_too_mut]

Zaad said:

It's riduculous and they should find a solution for this sort of nonsense.

 

There is a solution, has been around for 10 years at least.

 

NCR invented (for WallMart) bar code tags for products in hypermarkets that will allow you to drive a trolley through a checkout and all pricess will present themselves to a special reader bench (while going under it) and you just swipe your card and all done. Pack up your goods uotside the store.

 

Then, it was deemed to be too expensive for small or cheap items.

 

Now, such a tag would not cost more than few cents (like those beepeng tags that scream when someone takes the goods without paying) and the price could be included in a passenger ticket.

 

When trying to locate an "unaccompanied" baggage within a plane, staff can bring in that reader into the cargo compartment and locate where the bags are.

 

Would they interfere with the plane's navigation instrument? They can be programmed to be switched off by an officer when all passengers are aboard.

 

Planes are utilizing much more sofphisticated equipment than this, why is it still a problem -

 

jp1, if you are reading this, what do you think?

[thalenoi]

Unfortunately I have seen this happen too often.

Tampa airport, flight to Montreal, a couple got their watch wrong(???) and were shopping endlessly after check in. Theywere not apologetic, had a face "what the heck are you upset about?"

 

At dong Muang, an Air France flight. Were announcing endlessly " Mr X is expected immediately at gate xx"

After 1 hour of this I saw a young man running desperately towards the gate. I yelled something in French he kept 300 people waiting.

 

Yep should fine those guys for the real cost of delaying a flight...imagine all the connecting flights missed because of one idiot.

[Guest]

I think the policy of requiring pulling the bags of a no show is antiquated and over rated. Has there ever even been a case in history a bomb was found before or after this rule? Baggage screening is better now, and the thing that makes the rule moot is that after 9/11, it became clear terrorists are only too willing to die themselves by going aboard. So I don't see much value in this rule. But hey, I think the plastic butter knives are dumb too.

[stars99hk]

I was watching a documentary about Hong Kong airport just two days ago. They were saying the sophisticated computer system they use allows them to find a any bag in about 5 or so minutes. They know exactly which cargo container each bag is in, and with hand held scanners can find a bag from a passeneger who has not showed up real quickly.

 

They also tie the boarding process into the baggage handling so if someone does not show up to board it tells them exactly which bag needs to be removed.

[Cumcannon]

Escape Rabbit said:

I think the policy of requiring pulling the bags of a no show is antiquated and over rated. Has there ever even been a case in history a bomb was found before or after this rule? Baggage screening is better now, and the thing that makes the rule moot is that after 9/11, it became clear terrorists are only too willing to die themselves by going aboard. So I don't see much value in this rule. But hey, I think the plastic butter knives are dumb too.

 

No cases that I know of but, of course that doesn't mean it can't happen and it only takes one time. Yes, terrorists are

willing to die but if there was no baggage match rule in place I can almost guarantee that they would at least think about blowing up an aircraft that way. The only solution is to advise passangers at check-in "Your baggage is now being loaded onto the aircraft, failure to show up at the gate prior to departure time may result in a fine and or you may be denied boarding" I think if this became standard the problem would go away.