Naomi Campbell banned from BA flights

Naomi Campbell has been spared future traumatic encounters with Heathrow's Terminal 5 since British Airways has banned her from its flights, the BBC reports. The grounding comes after last week's solid cuffing of the battling Streatham clotheshorse "on suspicion of assaulting a police officer". She was apparently forcibly …

[Anonymous Coward]

Just avoid BA

They lose your baggage and then call the cops when you complain about it and hide behind the police officers.

The escalation of making an argument into a police matter often causes punch ups, but then the only fix is to give BA a miss.

[Steven Foster]

Great!

Now if only they could ban her from appearing...anywhere at all. That'd be brilliant.

Paris. I like her more.

[Andus McCoatover]

Lucky bitch.

Wish it'd happened to me years ago. My encounter with BA (==Bugger Hall) left nothing to want me to use that sodding excuse for an airline/airport again. Unfortunately, I still had to, 'cos of job, but chose Finnair every time.

Mine's the one with the parachute in the back pocket.

[Laszlo]

Icon for Naomi?

The Register should add an icon for Naomi as well in the forums. I think she would get on well with Paris.

[James]

Sounds good to me.

Great stuff - perhaps BA should ban all customers who have (inconveniently) "lost their bags" or who have turned up on time expecting (how arrogant) that their flights have not been cancelled.

In this way BA will have much fewer passengers and, perhaps, be able to cope with them in their wonderful, shiny, but totally inoperable new terminal.

I must admit I start to wonder if Terminal 5 was sponsored by other airlines to get the Pariahs away from the main Heathrow area?

[Jonathan]

Looks like shes grounded!

Ha ha! I'm sure Paris Hilton sympathizes, also falling into the "Why am I famous again?" category.

[Anonymous Coward]

Naomi might get the last laugh...

... when BA goes out of business for loosing everyone elses bags also.

Paris, because there is no picture of Naomi.

Anon, because most, including me, would probably find this comment rather lame.

[tom carbert-allen]

cases

"We deal with cases on an individual basis and take appropriate action where necessary."

they obviously don't feel giving cases back to passengers is either appropriate or necessary, at least until a few days have passed anyway.

[Anonymous Coward]

OMG!

Are there no lengths BA won't go to, no restrictions they won't impose simple to try and get the traveler volumes down to manageable levels?

Smells of desperation, me thinks...

[alan]

"Good" customer?

So the current definition of a "good customer" is to kick & scream at people and call them scum?

I await the next public letter mentioninjg Mr Ballmer as a "good customer" with anticipation...

- Mines the one with the Armani Collar and scuff marks...

[Damn Yank]

but...

... you can't keep Snoop Dogg out of the country???

[Alex Cooper]

"We deal with cases on an individual basis"

And then promptly lose them.........

[dervheid]

@ Grounded

You MUST be kidding, right?

Unfortunately, just about every other airline that flies transatlantic will already have been in contact with her 'people' offering her the finest travel choices, probably at reduced rates, just for the 'kudos' of being 'her airline.'

Of course, I could be wrong!

[Anonymous Coward]

Nelson Muntz

<quote>Ha, Ha!</quote>

[Anonymous Coward]

she is not alone

In BA's ban list we can find names such Snoop Dogg. Banned after a discussion in heathrow about some of his entourage not being able to join him in the lounge area.

[M A Walters]

Re Icon for Naomi?

That's a good idea. Perhaps her with a mobile phone??

That's what she is famous for, after all...

[Anonymous Coward]

Case by Case basis.....what do they know?

We all know that the Steatham Clotheshorse can be a handy shot with a mobile and short on patience....however, how BA who charge through the nose for 1st Class and guarantee world first service, then inform the customer before they have even started their journey that they have lost their cases for travel.....and expect them to put up and shut up......the then quote we deal with people on a 'case by case' basis currently 16k individual cases, most of them in spain!

If my product failed, I would withdraw....not sell, refund, but not BA, they have cerimoniously '*****' there most valuable asset, their brand and customers. Tosser's.

[chris morton]

Naomi Campbell banned from BA flights

I ain't gettin' on no damn plane fool!

Did anyone try giving her a glass of milk with sleeping pills in it?

[Chris Purcell]

isa

The IT angle:

Airline <--- British Airways ---> Joke

[Matt Bryant]

RE: James

I have flown twice from T5 since it opened, the first time having been the weekend it opened. I arrived with the media coverage leading me to expect scenes from Dante's Inferno - one flight was twenty minutes delayed taking off by luggage, the other was bang on time. Coming back through I was out of the airport within fifteen minues of leaving the plane. I'm sure my flights maybe weren't typical for all travellers, but there does seem to be an element of Britain-bashing in the media coverage with the intention of making anything to do with BA seem a cataclysmic disaster. I have another two flights out of T5 booked this month, on my experience I am not expecting anything beyond the typical airport hassles, and certainly nowhere near the level of frustration caused by the annual Fwench and Greek airtraffic controller strikes.

[Anonymous Coward]

Dear Ms Campbell,

I understand that you do not anticipate being in a position to use your BA Exec Club points. Would you like to donate them to me?

[Anonymous Coward]

What

are you on about, the woman assaulted another human being, regardless of uniform, this in my book puts marks her as sub-human.

Well done to BA, we don't need her kind, and it's time the rest of you sad sacks woke up to that fact. the Campbell and others like her are NOT above the law.

[Sarah Bee]

Re: What

I think you're probably sub-human if you've never had the urge to have a go at someone or other in your life (and I can't believe she was the only one out of all the thousands inconvenienced not to lose it to one degree or another). It's just that she seems to have, um, exceptionally poor impulse control.

[Spleen]

Ooh, ooh

Can I be banned from BA as well? Not just so I have an excuse never to use their service if anyone tries to make me, the list of people banned from BA is starting to sound like a badge of honour a la the list of songs banned from BBC radio and I want in.

[ImaGnuber]

@Sarah Bee

Well, Sarah, if she has poor impulse control I don't want her on any plane I'm on.

"I think you're probably sub-human if you've never had the urge to have a go..."

Of course most of us will have had the urge but it's the sub-humans who won't control it - we humans manage to restrain ourselves (civil society and all that).

Now Sarah, put down that cell phone! Sarah! Sarah no!

Ouch! Good throw.

[Sheila's Hamster]

exceptionally poor impulse control

"It's just that she seems to have, um, exceptionally poor impulse control."

You mean she gobbed at a Police officer! Now that's extraordinarily bad impulse control.

[Anonymous Coward]

How many reg readers witnessed this?

If anyone on these forums actually witnessed this then you can give an honest opinion whether MS Campbell's or BA's behaviour was acceptable in this instance - the rest of you have already made your mind up based on here-say or perhaps sensational reports in the media - maybe it is time to start thinking for yourselves.

AC - because that is what I am.

[Andy ORourke]

We deal with cases on an individual basis?

Surley it would be more efficient to sort of load them up into big trucks and drive them to / from the plane rather than having baggage handlers carry cases individually from the terminal to the plane?

[Anonymous Coward]

Sarah -call me...my number..oh my number... 867-5309

Ah ha Sarah has given herself away. She must also be an archetypical clothes model type. Most girls detest the clotheshorses and Sarah's batting for her. Now I'm a typical male pig and models are appreciated and sought. So gimme a call, Sarah.

Yours with undying love Bart

[Anonymous Coward]

@Peter

and adding to the known facts: the original article said whe was flying to attend a memorial service.

Three hours waiting in the airport with nothing to do except reflect on memories of a recently deceased friend is going to leave most people in a rather more emotional state than usual

[Charles Tsang]

One sec ...asked to leave the plane cos her bag was lost...

Whilst I am no fan of Clueless Super Models, every story I've happened to come across (honestly not sought them out!), says the same facts....

she is going to a memorial service

she arrived early with 2 bags

she is reassured the bags will make it

a bag is lost and she is informed

the only option we are told she is given to get the bag, is to get off the plane (and presumably be late for the memorial service?)

police arrive to enforce the leaving bit

Naomi does her thing

I don't know if she really needed what was in that bag (she presumably could buy anything she needed in LA!) but I can't believe that BA told her that she had to get off to get the bag!

"I'm sorry, your bag isn't going to make it, please get off." isn't the usual line is it?

I think we're missing a bit of the story here....

[Solomon Grundy]

@How many reg readers witnessed this?

Doesn't matter how many people witnessed it.

Bad customer service deserves a good punch in the face - history has proven that big companies won't listen to reasoned complaints. The only option left it to resort to physical means.

More people ought to get assaulted, it'd be a good attitude adjustment for much of the western population.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: I would have given her my phones to throw too

Peter, I'm with you at this point. I would've blown a fuse also. Considering that my luggage tends to be fairly valuable (it does not fit into the size allowed on as cabin luggage, and is twice as heavy), I would be one of those soon banned from British Airways flights if that was the case with MY luggage. And compared to Ms Campbell, I am... well... common.

Although, I have to admit that I do feel sorry for some of the BA staff who have had to take her wrath (considering her temper).

Two friends of mine work for BA, and they confirmed what everyone feared... management incompetency. BA were warned a month before T5's opening by their own staff that the massive switch WOULD NOT WORK, and yet management went ahead, shushed all the dissenters and told them not to be so negative, and that everything would be hunky-dory. One friend worked at T5 on the opening morning and knew there was trouble when managers were spotted in the baggage area shifting baggage for the second flight out.

Like I said to both this weekend - I feel sorry for the BA staff on the ground who are deliberately kept in the dark by management about the severity, who can only deliver information as it is given to them, and who have to bear the brunt of the passengers. Which is why I'm glad that my flights to date are all either from Gatwick, T2 or T1... I do NOT want to lose my equipment in T5 until my friends tell me it's safe to do so.

[Anonymous Coward]

Hearsay

Hearsay is all I need, she should be locked in a nut house for all our protection !

[StopthePropaganda]

wow, all this justification for violence

I see why so many of you are against the 2nd Amendment-you're quick to justify violence where it isn't deserved, and encourage those who've committed violence against the working class BA people who are doing *what they're told*. Obviously you're the type who needs to be kept away from anything heavy or pointy.

Any @sshole who, for any reason, assaults service personnel for *doing their job* needs to spend some quality time in "The Cooler". Just because someone is rich, or was famous, or has mental issues, does NOT change what the service people, security guards, etc. are ordered to do if they want to feed their families and stay off the dole. Same goes for customer service folks on the phones, wait staff, licensing office people, and any uniformed civil servant below the rank of Captain.

You violent elitists need to watch "Fight Club" again. And quit projecting your tendencies onto the rest of us. Most of us know when violence is appropriate and save it for the situation and individuals personally responsible (anyone remember that little concept, personal responsibility, anymore?) for escalating or threatening escalation of violence.

[Anonymous Coward]

Eh?

"A spokewoman for Campbell said: "Naomi has been flying with BA for nearly 30 years and has been a good customer. She hopes this can be resolved amicably.""

It would appear that Ms. Campell's ability to resolve things amicably is precisely the issue at hand...

[Martin Usher]

Before we go overboard with this assaulting thing...

As anyone who's ever lived anywhere inner-city-ish in the UK knows "assaulting a police officer" is a generic charge thrown at anyone who doesn't put up and shut up ("assault" in the UK doesn't need to actually involve physical assault.) Police all over the world have an array of these generic charges that are designed more to assert their authority than reflect a reality (but unfortunately many people still don't know this -- they actually think that an underweight model who's stock in trade is her appearance is going to attack a bunch of heavyweight (and all to frequently) armed men).

She's hot tempered, low on patience and may have other issues. But, honestly, do you really feel that treating customers like this is the right thing to do? Also, it seems that a large part of the T5 fiasco was caused by over the top security -- too few security staff are unable to cope with frisking the workforce, much less the passengers, so the whole system just gums up.

I, like a lot of Americans, won't go near LHR.

[ImaGnuber]

Hint

I can't believe the number of people who think there is any justification whatsoever for getting violent with someone who is NOT an immediate threat to your life. It's people like you who make life miserable for everyone else... not that you'd care.

Hint: I've worked in a couple of places where we occasionally had to deal with people like you. I can assure you that we would make enough of a fuss to make you think you were getting the treatment you 'deserve' and have 'paid for' and then do nothing. There were plenty of other more pleasant people we would rather be helping.

If I'd had to deal with your ravings over lost luggage (things go wrong - complain to management) I would make you feel as 'special' as you think you are and then ship your luggage to Paraguay.

Don't like the service? Go someplace else - please.

[norisk]

@Alex Cooper

Funnee!

[Anonymous Coward]

@Hint

"I can't believe the number of people who think there is any justification whatsoever for getting violent with someone who is NOT an immediate threat to your life. It's people like you who make life miserable for everyone else... not that you'd care."

People get angry, it's wrong, but it's also understandable. She would not be angry if they did not lose her bags, she would not get punchy if they didn't call the police when she got angry.

Her response does not mitigate BA's bad behaviour. A policeman physically man-handled her, if I called the police and got them to drag a BA staff member to jail, do you not think the BA staff member would also put up a fight at the injustice of it? It would also result in a slapped officer.

I'm not sure that *I* wouldn't also put up a fight if I had a genuine complaint and BA staff called the police on me to stop me expressing my anger at their incompetence.

So given that BA don't diffuse anger, they call the police and turn complaints into arrestable offenses instead, it's better to not use their service till they go out of business. That way no police officers get 'assaulted' and no BA staff has to put up with verbal 'abuse'.

That's good for everyone right? We don't use BA because we don't want our DNA and fingerprints taken every time they lose our bags.

[Anonymous Coward]

@StopThePropaganda

And as a corollary, any assholes that abuse the police for trivialities should be banned from calling them, and as far as 'getting violent', I have no idea what happened, but it seems like the police are more "bullies for hire" as far as airport staff are concerned, and far more likely to be the ones doing violent acts. It seems like these days, any disturbance that happens in an airport is considered a capital offense. While protection from terrorism and wackos in general should be of some priority in something as critical as air travel, it seems like the industry's response is almost as bad as the potential problems. So now you can't (Naomi maybe doesn't count) express your dismay and frustration at losing your luggage or having your life adversely affected by idiots in customer service without risking being 'tazed' or going to jail, or at least being taken aside to enjoy the humiliation of being strip-searched. This in effect gives the corporations represented a 'license to steal' or misbehave as much as they desire, without any chance of repercussions because the average traveler is so cowed and intimidated by the possible consequences of even speaking up. Which to me is as disturbing as the possibility of one flight in 100,000 having a slight chance of being hijacked. (not that there's any proof that the recent stringent measures are preventing anything) And no, I don't know what the penultimate solution should be, but the cure shouldn't be as bad as the disease it's intended to prevent.

[Anonymous Coward]

"Assault" could have meant "Shouted at"

This is a very long way from violence, and is completely understandable for somebody who's just been told their bags have been lost.

Having been on one business trip that was a complete waste of time due to lost luggage - my toolbox didn't turn up until I was checking in to go home - I can sympathise with her.

[Solomon Grundy]

@ImaGnuber

Violence is a time honored method of resolving conflict.

<smack>

Have a nice day.

[Anonymous Coward]

Whole heap of nonsense

...About people just doing their jobs.

1. We lost one of your bags.

2. We're not even going to take you to your destination and try to get it there for you afterwards.

And we're only doing our jobs.

Oh dear... what lunacy is this, for gods sake?

What's the point in having a ticket?

And another T5 point... delayed baggage has to go through enhanced security, it seems, from previous articles, thus making it even more delayed.

Why? *We* delayed your baggage, keeping it on *our* premises, and now, because of that, *we* have to check it again.

None of this (the NC treatment, or the special enhanced luggage delay) comes under the heading of normal human behaviour, let alone half decent commercial behaviour. It's complete, raving, lunacy.

When expecting normal human behaviour, and half-decent commercial service, and finding utter lunacy, thumping someone seems a quite likely outcome.

I feel very sorry for the poor employee who had to deliver the message, and no, I wouldn't thump them. But I'd shout, and I'd probably get thrown off anyway.

[Herby]

IT Angle for baggage?

Why don't these people simply put RFID tags on the bags. Of course I always make sure that my bags have the nice destination airport tag firmly attached to them BEFORE they leave my sight. This usually helps things along.

He says not having lost a bag in recent years.

[Anonymous Coward]

@ImaGnuber

I'm guessing you'd feel differently were you in the same room with someone who was about to beat the hell out of your four-year-old daughter...

Regardless, @Solomon Grundy, if you think that a punch in the face will work where reasoned argument did not, you should consider a complete reevaluation of the human psyche.

[stizzleswick]

@all those disappointed with BA

I have flown a pretty varied set of airlines so far, and in my experience, BA still makes the top ten in service and quality.

I'll admit I never flew BA while their staff were on strike (did that with Lufthansa and SAS though), but I had misdirected luggage with several airlines; BA handled it very professionally in my case (no hassles at all, they scanned in the barcode on my checkin tab and checked my passport, I gave them the local delivery address, it was there the next morning). Other companies I have experienced actually wanted to charge me for the delivery to my hotel!

I'm not saying BA doesn't get it wrong at times. I'm a pretty frequent flyer, and I have experienced just about all "big" airlines getting it wrong at times. I don't blame the company as such unless they get it wrong for me repeatedly through different representatives. (Anybody at a certain US airline reading this? You guys are the reason I don't fly Air France transatlantic any longer - AF is nice, but the return flight invariably is your line... and eight out of eight flights were total nightmares for a variety of reasons each...)

And to the topic, finally: I have also, during and after long flights, experienced truly hysterically dangerous people who were attacking other people, verbally and physically, for reasons that for most people are about enough reason to scratch their behinds. If such people are banned from an airline, the airline is making points with me, and I don't give a shit who those people are. When I'm travelling long distance, the last thing I want is a big hullaballoo while I'm underway; I want my peace. I normally have more than enough problems to fix at my destination anyway.

Mine's the one saying "I'll fly anything if it gets me there in peace, not pieces."

[Brittany Jones]

Throw out your passengers so you can't lose their luggage

Naomi was setup by a jealous, arrogant and racist administration at BA

But how many of their other passenger lost their temper?

20,000 lost bags and about 400 cancelled flights only since T5 openned!

Naomi was luck to escape British Airways.

It seems that British Airways will need a lot more police at T5 if they continue to administer it this way.

Personally I never fly with British Airways anymore and it's exactly because of this atitude they have that anything is jsutifiable as long as they can hide behind some procedure or rule they have created.

Other airlines serve me very well and don't lose my luggage or arbitrairly cancel my flight.

So why should I bother with BA

[ImaGnuber]

@David Wiernicki

You're quite right, of course. If someone was attacking or about to attack a child, any child, I would have no problem with 'settling' them down. The same goes if someone attacks me - that's called self-defense. And I will assist others in defending themselves. However, to return to the specific context - lost luggage? Or anything else as trivial (relatively speaking as in non-life-threatening)? And most things are that trivial even if they are sometimes extremely frustrating.

Adults might try behaving as adults. Character is proven in difficult times, not when the going is easy.

[heystoopid]

So

So when is POS airline called BA filing for chapter eleven bankruptcy and doing a Pan Am style flying bellyflop upside down into the nearest brick wall , that is the bigger question ?

At least Naomi gets the best side of the deal , given the number of pretend servants and slackers that are far too lazy to work for living walking around in BA flight attendant uniforms and explains much why Richard floated his own airline too ?

I'll get my coat , mines the one with the MET bullet holes in the front , whilst standing innocently at the check in counter at T5 !

[Rich]

I'd imagine she can afford NetJets

Surely.

BTW, I've flown 1000+ sectors and never seen a fight.

stizzlewick must be doing something wrong. Unless he's like those people who keep seeing cars crashing in his rear-view mirror :-)

[I. Aproveofitspendingonspecificprojects]

@ message No 1.

"All incidents of abusive or disruptive behaviour towards fellow passengers or staff are taken extremely seriously and will not be tolerated. We deal with cases on an individual basis and take appropriate action where necessary."

If the appropriate action is to "ban her" does that mean she will get extra special treatment at Terminal 5 or just disappear into thin air like everything else there?

Is it true BA are marketing Soylent Green or it that just a paste to help disperse baggage no longer needed?

In the absence of a more appropriate icon I have used the None icon. I presume that it is there to represent Terminal 5 and such like? (I'm not very happy with its graphics though. But I suppose nothing represents none more graphically?)

[Anonymous Coward]

@M A Walters

"Perhaps her with a mobile phone??"

Are you playing a new updated version of Cluedo?

[Alf Hooker]

RE; I would have given her my phones to throw too

I sometimes cannot believe what I am reading. Has the whole world gone mad or lost every piece of decency and a good moralistic life that we ever had.

Let’s look at the facts;

Her bags were lost - Upsetting, I think we all agree, even bloody annoying. But not the end of the world, these things happen. I understand it was a complete balls up at T5, but get some perspective, it is a missing bag, no one died, no one injured, no real drama, just a lost bag

She lost her rag – People lose their temper all the time, some justified some not. Ms Campbell seems to have made a career out of shouting and screaming at people when things don’t go her way.

I am certain that she was not the only upset passenger on that day, it would appear that using her ‘celebrity’ status (I hate the word celebrity, especially when used by the likes of Ms Campbell), would ensure she got favourable treatment, what a shallow attitude she must have, and of course everyone in her immediate entourage. She obviously had no thought for all the other passengers who were subjected to her vile rants and childish rages. Grow up

She spat at a police officer – Easily answered, there is no excuse for spitting at anyone, police officer or not.

She deserved to get arrested for such anti social and disagreeable behaviour.

Those who don’t agree must arrange for someone to spit in their face, then see how they react (they will call the police for sure)

She was arrested - She committed an assault and deserved to be arrested for it, any decent minded human being will agree with this.

If you don’t , please read my previous comments on getting someone to spit on you.

She was banned from BA – BA has the right, as does any business, to ban anyone from using their service if they have the evidence to back it up, I would suggest that they do.

I do not want to be on a flight with a petulant, loud person who spits at others just because things don’t go her way.

The woman has no dignity and deserves to be banned, as for the comment about her phoning her celeb friends and getting them to stop using the airline, I bet BA are terrified of this.

Newsworthy - No , using low level celebrities to sell papers and fill news bulletins indicates that there is nothing more important to report.

How is Ms Campbell more newsworthy than missing kids, or our servicemen being killed overseas.

She isn’t and the sooner she realises this the better

As for the title ' I would have given her my phones to throw too'. Idiotic statement, are you condining the use of violence over a lost bag. You are no better than her and obviously have very low standards on how to behave in public, you should be arrested as well

[Anonymous Coward]

@ stizzleswick

I fly quite frequently myself (around twice a week), predominantly with Lufthansa though theses days, because I refuse to board another BA (I like the Best Avoided abbreviation) flight, if I don't absolutely have to.

I even prefer going through the hassle of flying via Frankfurt for the long-haul flights.

I have flown BA many times, and with out exsaguration, BA either lost or delayed my luggage seven out of ten times.

The Last time it even traveled more or less twice around the globe and then I was called nearly a week later, and told that it was ready for collection at Heathrow. When I politely told them, that I neither have the time nor will to pick it up, then the Lady told me in a rather rude tone of voice, that they don't have any delivery vans available for the next four days, so I should take it or leave it. I suggested to her, that it was not my problem, and in worst case send it via taxi. She then had the cheek to ask me how dare I suggest that, because it would be way to costly for the company. Instead of argueing with her, I asked to speak to her manager and she said he wasn't available (the usual lie). So asked her that I would like to speak to any superior, who was in the position to make relevant decisions. She refused and I said, I'd make a formal complaint and told her, I'd request the recordings of our conversation. She just hung up on me.

I phone in again, got someone else, eventually managed to get hold of a manager and two! days later I got my luggage, no apology, no call to make sure it arrived (it came with a taxi!) no follow up, nothing.

That's where I decided never again BA! I even canceled my Exec Club membership, with an all explaining Letter, as well as requesting them to delete all details relating to me (as far as the law allows them to obviously). I have never heard of them again. (actually they didn't even send me a confirmation about the deletion of my personal details, as I requested).

That is customer service worthwhile noting!

AC: Because I can.... ;-)

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: Alf Hooker

Is this guy for real? She was travelling First Class. That means she's paid a lot of money for her ticket and, rightly, expected a decent level of service from BA. All the time she was in the terminal she was systematically lied to about her bags. Only after she was on the plane, when she could no longer complain to those who had lost her bag was she told that one was missing. She complained to the person who told her - and my sympathy goes out to her because she was completely shafted by her employers. The Police were called to remove her from the plane and they promptly arrested her for assault - which happens if you fail to comply immediately with any order from a policeman, no matter how unreasonable. I think I would have given her my phone as well - and told her that Alf was the baggage handler who'd tossed her bag into the corner.

Anyway, where did the reference to spitting come from. I guess Alf probably read it in the current bun, so it must be true.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re. voice conversation with BA re lost luggage

If you had a taped recording mentioning that your calls are recorded "for quality purposes" you should write down the approximate date/time of your call, then file a Data Subject Access Request with BA for the recording per recorded delivery, and inform them that any failure to deliver the requested on time as per DPA 98 will automatically result in a complaint - no reminder will be sent.

In addition, AFAIK the woman on the phone should (as company representative) have advised you of the process you need to follow. I may be wrong, but I think you have grounds for a formal complaint in that matter already, best give the office of the Information Commisioner a quick call. If so, I'm willing to bet BA will use the traditional escape route of "not enough training".

On this topic, I find it fascinating that only IBM has understood the Data Protection Act far enough to offer an option to opt out of such recording. AFAIK there are in some cases compliance reasons why calls need to be recorded (bank instructions would strike me as a good example), but there I'm not sure there is a legally valid reason why this data is collected by companies like BA without your explicit permission. Anyway, I digress.

Sure, a person should be arrested for spitting. God knows what they've been eating (WMD threat, obviously), and, after all, a supermodel is of course going to be in the possession of a sufficiently developed muscular structure and body weight to be a threat to your average trained copper. Not like any knife wileding mugger in London. One hell of a risk you've got here - especially since Naomi Campbell did not resort to violence in the first place or it would have been all over the press already. It's worth repeating this - she did not use violence.

So you applaud BA? That's perfect - you obviously deserve eachother.

Mine's the Virgin jacket..

[Anonymous Coward]

Naomi explosion

Violence aint the answer its true. I dont know what damage was caused to the customer services person but after some of my experiences at the airport it probably wasnt enough. I would carry around a portable guillotine just for these occasions for certain airline staff.

Ok, joking aside, she shouldnt have hit anyone. But AFAIK, she was pushed to her limit by incompetent, ill-trained, nil-brained morons who pose as "Customer Service". She could have caused a lot more problems for BA by not hitting anyone and making her complaints more vocal - so captured by all the press. Bad media for BA is bad news right now! Her tantrum gave BA an escape route - now they dont have to apologise for anything.

Not sure how BA will recover from this one....perhaps by their usual strong arm tactics and internal "security team"?

[Chris Hunt]

Low Fact Spread

Everyone here seems very exercised on, or against, Ms Campbell's behalf. Just remember that we know very few facts about what actually happened.

I have to say, though, that it seems pretty unlikely that a purely verbal complaint on the battlin' clothehorse's part would bring on the attentions of a tazer-toting squad of Heathrow's finest.

I'm guessing that BA flight crew are like everybody else - they want to get through their work day as quickly and easily as possible. Calling in the rozzers purely because a passenger has complained is bound to involve a lot of time and hassle, not to mention a ton of paperwork (what doesn't?). It doesn't sound like a course of action that they'd be overkeen to embark upon.

Could it be - dare I say it - that the reports of this event in the media (not El Reg, of course!) have been somewhat garbled? After all, the UK press is often thinner than your average supermodel in the fact department!

[Alf Hooker]

RE;Alf Hooker - a response from the coward

Splendid, you managed to sum up the whole of the incident in several (badly grammatised) words.

You are very obviously a genius, or are you being just slightly shallow with your opinions?

Just because she can afford to travel first class it does not give her the right to be rude and badly behaved, of course this may be the celeb thing rearing its ugly head again.

You are obviously very impressed just because she has a little bit of fame.

You also have a very low opinion of the British police service (and a high opinion of yourself), do you really believe that she was instantly arrested because she would not do as she was told, or was it becasue she had committed offences that were dealt with by way of an arrest.

As a frequent flier I despise the ignorance of some people who believe that because they have paid for a service that they have the right to abuse it.

Would you just sit in your seat and listen to some idiot shouting and screaming.........oh hang on you probably would as you are not even brave enough to put your name onto this forum.

Several things need addressing from your response, firstly I also would like have seen you give your phone to be thrown and then you could have been arrested, this would really have given you something to moan about.

Then you indicate that I am a bagage handler, I am not, although they,in my opinion, do stirling work.

Your attitude toward the police (or I fear any authorative organisation) sucks, I bet you are the type of person who mumbles under their breath when you see other members of the public being spoken to , although i would be willing to bet that you have never spoken to an officer yourself.

Finally, the spittin reference was not taken from, as you so deftly put it,'the currant bun', but from the news section of the Times newspaper.

You seem to have it in for Sun readers as well, are you really happy with your life?

[Reid Malenfant]

I blame the Duke of Edinburgh

Re: Alf Hooker By Anonymous Coward

“The Police were called to remove her from the plane and they promptly arrested her for assault - which happens if you fail to comply immediately with any order from a policeman, no matter how unreasonable”

Oh really? And the officer(s) in question decided to concoct this now ‘self-evidently’ spurious Police assault openly in front of how many other 1st Class passengers and staff?

Presumably they then had to quickly convince all the others present to join in with this now all but ‘proven’ conspiracy? Let’s face it, NC is such an introverted retiring figure, she’d never go straight to the press would she?

After all, everyone knows that Perverting the Course of Justice is now a minor offence and no longer the career killer it once was.

Hmm, sounds plausible enough, perhaps you should make contact with Mohommed Al Fayed for the definitive truth in this matter, he certainly seems to have his finger firmly on the pulse ….. well he does doesn’t he?

Or maybe, just maybe, your tantrum throwing super model actually did assault the officer?

Hmm, perhaps not, that’s just too ridiculously far fetched isn’t it?

[Gwyn Kemp-Philp]

Over the top?

I sympathies with NC and anyone else unfortunate to attract the attention of the gestapo at any airport.

I have just survived Johannesburg airport and would compare notes.

I was navigating customs in a wheelchair (because I am disabled) and during the course of the interrogation I was relieved of every single possession - including my stick - for testing to near destruction. I was then told to stand up to be searched. I replied I could not do that because they had taken my stick away and the reason I was in the chair was... etc.,

I was then approached by two more officials and the order was repeated. - so was my reply.

They then summoned some police officers who informed me that failing to comply with the order was an offence and I would be arrested if I refused one more time.

I said gimme my stick and I'll try... Then promptly arrested me and assured me that I was going to be placed on the airport blacklist and would be banned from using it. I replied that that was not possible as I had already blacklisted the airport.

This continued with the police attempting to force me to my feet and me not being happy to comply until at last, a competent officer arrived at the melee and instructed that I was to be searched whilst sitting. They got all uptight about that and insisted on starting all over again from the start. Finally I was released minus everything I owned which included medication for the flight and I did not get access to any of it until landing at Gatwick (Thank God!)

All praise to Nationwide (SA airline) for delaying their flight by a full hour for me and arriving at Gatwick only 10 minutes late.

With all this power to hand with this terrorist nonsense, the authorities and airlines have become the terrorists - because it is illegal to fail to comply with every whim they feel that they can do whatever they want without having to answer for it.

Personally, I'd rather risk the terrorists that have to put up with this dehumanising experience, I truly believe that the terrorists have won because we have lost our democratic processes into global police states.

Perhaps, that was really the plan all along.

[Anonymous Coward]

Leopards and Spots

My girlfriend was a model and once shared a dressing room with said Miss Campbell in Paris - and she caught her red handed nicking all her tights!

When confronted she threw a major screaming strop, denied everything and actually tried to accuse my baby of planting them.

I think I'll go with the Police on this one.

Cow!

The pickpocket because that's how we've always remembered her!

[tim]

greentea02

BA is as clapped out as our international image. A brand new terminal and no one bright enough to organise or run it. Roll on the olympic games .

Vienna central airport is a striking contrast to heathrow TORTURE TERMINAL , Bright intelligent staff , multi- lingual , polite and a stunning efficiency level . No ques . Like being on a different plannet . But the Austrian key instalations are run by the natives who are well educated intrested and proud of their jobs . At Heathrow its clock watchers and foreign labour dragging the quality of service lower than a third world country.

No supprise then that Naomy had her bags lost (stolen) like most other celeberities and other travellers who are unfortunate enough to stop at the heathrow disaster.

Lucky its only open till 10.30 pm . Any longer and passengers would need medication to get through the experience.

I would take the Eurostar to Paris and fly from there

[stizzleswick]

Re: AC@stizzleswick

I guess your mileage may vary. What I was saying was that in my personal experience, BA always handled my problems (if any) very professionally. And no, I'm not in any way connected to BA. I have, on the other hand, experienced a few other "big" airlines that were quite a bit more uppity in their antics, which I therefore tend to avoid. I currently also am avoiding BA, but that's for price and scheduling reasons which do not seem to apply to a panoply of other airlines...