3 broken seats in one flight :(

Wow. I just got off a LHR-DEL on the VS300 service having moved to 3 seperate seats in Upper Class. Each one was defective. It was G-VAIR I think, 343.

The first seat had no power at all, the second the armrest was broken and wouldn't depress and the third had a faulty table, so lap food.

The FSM seemed resigned to it 'well I don't know what to say' - which I didn't think was particularly helpful and resulted in a really lousy flight.

You always expect the odd seat to have a fault, but to experience 3 in one flight - one after the other was really dissapointing.

I think I'll pop a note in to FC, but I just felt let down - not even a 'can I get you anything to make the flight better' line from the FSM; for the record all I wanted was a seat that worked...

If I'm repeating myself it's because as a result I had almost no sleep!


Is this a result of bad maintenance? A new trend? Why wouldn't they know?

Sorry to hear you had UCS issues three seats does seem very unlucky I assume that they were the only free seats too..

All you can really do now is contact FC and let us know how you get on

Its a big pain in the backside for both Customers and Crew, but it does sometimes happen. If the Seats cant be fixed in the time the A/C is on the ground then a joint decision is made between departments as to weather to delay the flight and fix the seats or let the flight go. As the DEL goes late at night and a delay goes on longer than expected while fixing the seats then due to night time rules affecting LHR the flight may then have to be canx until the next morning.

Shouldn't these things be maintained a bit better, I dont feel it is acceptable at all. 1 seat ok but 3!

[fozzyo]

Originally posted by Monkey
Shouldn't these things be maintained a bit better, I dont feel it is acceptable at all. 1 seat ok but 3!

If the previous pax let the crew know of a problem. Otherwise the ground staff won't know to repair them. They can't visit every seat in the aircraft and check them all.

Mat xxx

I agree - for the money it's not acceptable. It's one thing for an engine or avionics to go technical, but 3 seats? No. Doesn't take much fixing, just spare parts, a technician and the will to make it happen.

Only ever had one busted seat on VS and that was a j2000 that locked in recline, had to have breakfast at the bar while crew moved an op-up down the back[:I]think I got 20k miles:D.Had a BA CW seat break years ago I ended up in the poor mans lap behind me.

I agree with all what u say but its not sometimes as easy as just fitting a spare part it also getting to the part that is broke and the time it takes.

What really annoys me is when someone snaps the headphone jack in the socket and then does not tell the crew, so then when the next person tries to plug there headset in then cant because the socket is blocked!!

Also on V-port at the bulkhead and exit seats the passengers dont press the release button they just force the screen up and then it breaks off the arm of the armrest!!!

[mitchja]

[rant mode on]

Whenever I hear things like this mentioned, it does wind me up slightly. Often the message thet comes across is that it is the passengers responsibility to report defects with airlines seats to the airline, as often the response is 'well nobody told us it wasn't working'

Well I'm sorry but the airline itself should have most (if not all) of the responsibility for checking and maintaining seat and cabin defects.

[/rant mode off]

Regards

[preiffer]

While I understand Declan's frustrations, I do (in part) have to agree with James.

When doing the aircraft clean, surely the airline SHOULD be checking the basics for each seat? Kind of an "assume they're all broken until they've been checked" approach.

That's got to be better than the "assume it's working until someone reports it broken" attitude that (all) airlines seem to have at the moment.

After all, aren't rental cars checked each time they're brought in by the last "passenger" before renting it to the next?

[Nottingham Nick]

Originally posted by preiffer

After all, aren't rental cars checked each time they're brought in by the last "passenger" before renting it to the next?

Very true, and any damage / defects that are found, are then charged to the last renter... whether they were aware of them or not. [n]

What if airlines started charging the last passenger for any damage .. or missing equipment, like safety cards / blankets / life jackets etc. etc.??? [:?]

Nick

[Scrooge]

I have to agree with both points of view,kind of sitting on the fence,while it true that the airlines should check each seat im guessing that there are times when they are also under pressure to get the aircraft clean and ready for the next flights asap,say when the incoming flight is delayed,im pretty sure 350+ people would go nuts if they found out that the flight had been delayed while the seats were checked..Not the best way of putting it I know,but with any luck you see where im coming from.

However what drives me nnuts is when an airlines checks you into a seat that they KNOW is faulty,what the heck is the point in that,are they just trying to anger their pax.

There have been a few stories on here and other sites about whole rows having no IFE but the pax checking in are not told about it,so they don't have a chnace to buy a couple of extra books etc.

Also for an airline like VS that promotes it's IFE so much this is doubly true.

Hi,

It appears you were very unlucky. On my recent BGI-LGW trip on English Rose we were told at boarding that something in 6K wasn't working and they thought it was "where you ate your meals from" but the crew would sort it out. We were given £20 in duty free vouchers. Got onboard and the tray table worked fine. Then tried to depress the armrest and it was all broken inside the leather. Did go down but was crumbling. The big problem was that the bed didn't go down as the buttons didn't work. However, all other power remained. The crew told us not to worry because there is a button under the ottoman to convert beds to seats and vice versa. This did work but she also said that if that failed it can be done manually but is a really heavy action!

Great crew!!

Tom

Originally posted by Nottingham Nick


What if airlines started charging the last passenger for any damage .. or missing equipment, like safety cards / blankets / life jackets etc. etc.??? [:?]

Nick

And sleep suits perhaps judging by another thread that's going at the moment

[HighFlyer]

Originally posted by sailor99

And sleep suits perhaps judging by another thread that's going at the moment

Ah, but they are yours to keep. Im sure VS do not want several dozen sweaty, used sleepsuits to dispose of

Who does leave their sleepsuit behind? It always comes home with me to be added to the pile

Thanks,
Sarah

[preiffer]

Originally posted by HighFlyer
Who does leave their sleepsuit behind? It always comes home with me to be added to the pile

I do.

Don't see the point in keeping 50 of 'em. [:(]

Don't see the point in keeping 50 of 'em

They used to sell quite well on ebay,every little helps towards the next trip if you are a leisure traveller:D

What if airlines started charging the last passenger for any damage .. or missing equipment, like safety cards / blankets / life jackets etc. etc.???

Nick

I sincerely hope that the airline checks for these after every flight[:0];)

Cheers,
VS045

Originally posted by VS045

What if airlines started charging the last passenger for any damage .. or missing equipment, like safety cards / blankets / life jackets etc. etc.???

Nick

I sincerely hope that the airline checks for these after every flight[:0];)

Cheers,
VS045

Some-one correct me if I am wrong but airlines are only required to check these (safety cards & life jackets) at the begining of a planes scheduled flights (on short hall anyway). Hence some of the contreversy surrounding RyanAir and the quick turn around affecting safety.

Just about to do a TR, but I've also had a bust suite in UC on a LHR-EWR flight. Screen bust, so no IFE for me.. table bust.. and no free seats to move to. *sigh*

Given the turnaround times it is probably difficult to check 451 headphone sockets!!

Dont forget when the plane land a whole army of cleaners, caterers, engineers and security people board the aircraft to prepare it for its next flight!

If a passenger snaps the headphone in the socket I would hope they would inform the crew so we can record it for the engineers!

More often than not they dont say anything! for example we ask passenegers to restow handsets for landing and take off but still people leave them hanging in the aisles then someone goes past and catches it on there bag and it breaks then its broken for the next sector!

Even with relatively short turnaround times I think it would be possible to do a basic check of 45 suites to make sure that the table works and that the seat converts. And given the continuing reliability issues with the UCS it would seem like a prudent thing to do...

BC

continuing reliability issues with the UCS it would seem like a prudent thing to do...

I am flying 3 - 4 times a week and 99% of the time the UCS is very reliable, thats why its winning awards and is so popular if there were that many reliability issues then people would not fly it!

Originally posted by declansmith
continuing reliability issues with the UCS it would seem like a prudent thing to do...

I am flying 3 - 4 times a week and 99% of the time the UCS is very reliable, thats why its winning awards and is so popular if there were that many reliability issues then people would not fly it!

If the UCS table was reliable, the design would not have changed. Every UCS flight I have been on bar one (ex-LGW with 14 seats) has had UCS difficulties ranging from suites needing manual conversion through to recalcitrant tables.

Luckily where issues have happened to me the loads have been so light I can move easily to the next seat...

BC