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Thankyou

A general question to our fellow forum members who may have experienced similar.

We flew from Palma recently with our 2 young children, and as you would expect "awarded" special assistance status at the boarding gate. After being hoarded into a pen outside the boarding gate we where all huddled around, with the speedy boarders waiting for our bus to come to take us to the aircraft. The problem is they continued to allow through the gate the standard boarders into an already full waiting area. There was no organisation, no orderly queue was formed, just a poor agent on her own to try to control the masses. When the bus turned up, the rear doors opened first, allowing all the standard boarders to push past everybody who had no doubt paid a fortune to get on first, and our fellow families with young kids. The bus quickly filled up, doors shut and we were left standing around. It was another 15 mins before the bus came back for us. When we spoke to the handing agents at the gate we were told to calm douwn and there was enough seats on the aircraft to accomodate us. This wasn't the issue, we were trying to get accross that as families with young children, (under 5 ) there was the possibility of us all being seperated on the plane.

In the end along with the speedy boarders we ended up getting on last, when I asked a cabin crew member if they could help us find a seat together she simply said, not my problem, we don't organise boarding! As it happened a couple did move and we ended up on a row together, but I had to ask them myself and put them out (who incidently were the only speedy borders to get on first) without any help from the cabin crew.

My question is do Easyjet answer complaints, becuase I am fuming about this and want answers. I don't want to come across as somebody who deserves special treatment just because I have kids, but I do expect some help with young children as a minimum requirement with most airlines, and I don't expect to be put in a situation that felt unsafe, partly down to the disgraceful behavior of the passengers, but the complete inability of the handling agents to form a line, or at least stop people coming through the gate.

I'm sure at some point you have all experienced this, but did you let it go or push it with lousyjet. (I must say though the outbound journey was proof that with organisation the free for all can be safe).

I think it would be worth writing to them, even if it's for your own peace of mind as then you feel you have at least done your bit to bring it to there attention, and it is less likely to rankle with you. You never know if enough people put in similar complaints they may do something about it . They are experimenting with seat numbers on certain routes which would do away with what you experienced.

Unfortunately the EJ boarding system seems to vary from airport to airport. Some places they seem to be able to handle it better than others, which I know is no consolation to others when they experience a bad scrum. I have seen what happened to you happen on other flights and it isn't a pretty sight. Other times the gates have just been open and people wandered through at their leisure almost, although that has been at airports where EJ haven't been so tight and have forked out for an air bridge. The coaches seem to bring out the herd mentality in many folk unfortunately.

Doe

I have recently contacted easyjet through their feedback/ customer services email facility and they sent an automated reply and then a " proper" email the next day, however my reason for contacting them was to compliment them on the 4 cabin crew who were excellent and really professional and offered outstanding customer service .
I have flown with them 3 times this year to Munich , Tenerife and Egypt and had speedy boarding on all flights , all of them handled speedy boarding effectively even when we were taken by bus in Egypt , the first bus was only speedy boarders and assistance and we were on the plane before the next bus arrived.
As you say the poor agent was trying to control the masses , and theres the problem , the totally disgusting behaviour of the other passengers , and yes you do see it fairly often . Easyjet offer extremely low prices because they run on the minimum amount of staff in all areas and also process passengers as quick as poss to ensure fast turnarounds , and if passengers behave in this way then perhaps they do lose control to some degree .
When we're waiting in the dep. gate area the agent got up and called speedy boarders first and you guessed it there was a stampede to the gate with everyone pushing and shoving , I've seen better behaviour and respect for young and old from people leaving football stadiums and they have been given a bad name over the years .
I thought well not everyone can be speedy boarders ? So either they didn't understand the announcement in English , or they were just thick or they have become sheep and followed everyone else . I suppose the main issue is partly easyjets policy of basically a bun fight to get t the front first and get a good seat because they don't allocate , perhaps it creates a siege mentality , and other passengers think that you are no different to them just because you have children with you and rightly or wrongly in reality you're not .
As Doe said they are experimenting with seat allocation and perhaps this is the way forward to a more civilised boarding of the plane , but that is going to have a cost attached and many people fly easyjet because it's a more affordable way for them and/or their family to have a holiday and they want to pay as little as possible .

It's very difficult as you say Andy. Easy jet are dammed if they do and dammed if they dont. People want really cheap fares and the thing that cuts that to the minimum is using very few staff. As a company they can't legislate on bad behaviour by passengers. The extra couple of staff put the extra £10 or £20 on the flight x 4 for a family all adds up. I flew easy at least twice last year it varys from destination to destination and the demographic of the passengers Geneva was pretty civilised, Alicante much less so. Infact as you say I saw better behaviour at Stamford Bridge at a Champions League match a few months back than in the Easyjet line. But in fairness the ticket cost more than the flight lol

The answer is to give people seat numbers as that probably won't increase the need for staff on the ground if they can come up with decent software.

I think I would still be tempted to write anyway.

Doe

doe wrote:

It's very difficult as you say Andy. Easy jet are dammed if they do and dammed if they dont. People want really cheap fares

Infact as you say I saw better behaviour at Stamford Bridge at a Champions League match a few months back than in the Easyjet line. But in fairness the ticket cost more than the flight lol

I think I would still be tempted to write anyway.

Doe

In fairness the burgers cost more than the flight !!!!

I can remember being at Fulham Broadway after a Chelsea v Millwall match and the queuing for the train was more civilised

I also think its worth contacting easyjet , they still want to hear from customers how their product can be improved I would imagine , but with all my flights the cost including bags was still at least half the price of using other airlines for the same itinerary

LOL it's very odd behaviour on Easyjet flights as the queuing and boarding is a bit of a nightmare but actually once passengers are on the aircraft it seems to become a bit more civilised. I don't know if it is the mental relief of getting on and the stress being over as I have seen a few people swap seats so that families with young kids can sit together? My OH did this last year as there was a spare seat next to so by moving a mum and child could sit together.

There are often three or four of us but we go on last and agree to sit separate if needs be its normally only 2ish hours and we are all plugged into iPods and pads anyway, spending the journey willing the seat in front of us not to recline!

Thanks for the responses everybody. Easyjet prices for this flight were pretty much on a par with other airlines, it was the fact I could fly from my local airport that did it for me, and we did book well in advance, so budget airline doesn't come into it for this rant !!!

As Andy66 said, I don't expect special treatment because I had children with me, what I expected was for my children to be safe. As an airline passenger, for whatever airline you fly with you are expected to adhere to all the terms, conditions, security etc, not to abuse the staff, blah blah, however you expect the same back from them, to travel in a safe manner and to be treated with absolute respect.. This wasn't the case.

I sound like I am moaning, but I really don't complain about things, I am a plug the ipod in and get on with it person, but there really isn't any excuse for putting my family, and to be fair other families who were in the same position at the time at risk. Not only that, the mood really could've turned very sour quickly.. we all know what happens then.

We flew with Easyjet recently on our trip to Malta from Newcastle. I'd looked at booking Jet2 first as I prefer their seating arrangements ie you can book your seat or you are allocated your seat at check-in. Unfortunately Jet2 don't fly to Malta, so reluctantly I had to book EJ. I say reluctantly as it's the herd mentality that puts me off flying with them.

Holidays can be stressful enough, have I packed my hair straighteners for eg :yikes, did I lock the back door? Hope hubby doesn't loose the passports! Then getting to the airport, praying there isn't a tail back on the motorway, burst tyre etc. On arrival at the airport you then hope the queue for the check-in isn't greeting you at the door. Once your bags have been taken from you, you should then be able to chill, relax and think 'that's it I'm on my way'. Not to have to worry about queueing for ages and pushing onto a bus just in order to get a seat with your family.

I'm not actually bothered about a seat with hubby, I'm more concerned about there being space for our hand luggage in the overhead lockers, as, more and more people I've noticed are taking full advantage of the none weight restriction. Gone are the days of a carrier bag from Smiths containing a paper and sandwich.

The system EJ has in place spoils the holiday atmosphere in my opinion. People 'watching' others in case they are sneakily edging forward, those less mobile getting irritated because they aren't as fast on their legs as others & are being overtaken in the rush. Babies, young children & OAP's totally ignored as passengers with huge hand luggage bags barge past without a second thought.

We got talking to people waiting to board in Malta and everyone said the same thing, that they'd rather pay a little extra and be allocated a seat at check-in. It makes sense. It's more relaxing for the passengers, makes life far easier for the ground staff, EJ would get a bit of extra cash and so everyone's happy.

I do hope EJ bring in seat allocation, it would certainly get my vote. At the moment, if given the choice between flights with EJ or Jet2, Jet2 would be my first choice even if I was paying a little more.

Glynis HT Admin wrote:

The system EJ has in place spoils the holiday atmosphere in my opinion. People 'watching' others in case they are sneakily edging forward, those less mobile getting irritated because they aren't as fast on their legs as others & are being overtaken in the rush. Babies, young children & OAP's totally ignored as passengers with huge hand luggage bags barge past without a second .

I totally agree with you , it really does bring out the worst in people and I think the agents try their best to control boarding , but soon as control is lost you end up with the situation that baldy man26 had to experience and as he said the mood can turn sour quite easily .
I have booked speedy boarding mainly because I don't like queuing for checkin and the bag drop queue is usually just as bad especially at gatwick as they have so many flights and do multi checkin , and so far by having speedy boarding we have managed to get ex legroom seats in row 11 or 12 , or is it 12 & 13 ??? As everyone else seems to have a fight over row 1 !!!

I hope baldy man has or does put a written complaint in because if you don't let them know how are they going to be able to put things right ? Perhaps if this sort of thing comes up a lot they might look at changing the boarding system or exert more authority when the boarding process starts , also you said that speedy boarders were some of the last to get on and they have paid for a service they have not received , surely it's in easyjets interests to keep these people happy otherwise they won't pay extra next time if the system doesn't work or worse still fly with another airline, I think that you are justified in being unhappy because you are looking at it from a safety point of view and not just moaning for the sake of it , I would like to think that easyjet should take your points seriously as it also puts their staff in a difficult situation trying to sort out these issues .

I have to say I really don’t understand the EasyJet/Ryanair bias towards rugby scrum boarding.
The computers are cheap these days.
Checkin ALWAYS has to be done, whether online or at a desk.
And the computer could say what seat....
Ryanair/Easyjet don’t have the problem of other airlines of a huge variety of airplanes and seat layouts. It’s nearly always a 737. Simples.
Most airlines are these days printing boarding cards on what seems like bogroll
– so it cannot be the cost of the cardboard.
Why don’t they stop this crazy nonsense which will, one day, possibly lead to violence and someone getting hurt. Fix it BEFORE there’s a real problem.
The airports authority ought to exert, well .... authority!!
ALLOCATE seats – ALL of them. Print seat allocations on bogroll.
And no rugbyscrum.
If folk want to pre-pick their seats to be next to exits, windows, or sexy cabin crew, then do the usual RyanAir/EasyJet thing - and charge for it.
Elsewise, you get what the computer gave you.
Simples??
Could someone from RyanAir/EasyJet reading this, kindly explain how they save lots of money by forcing people to fight for seats on aircraft?

well put UKBill couldnt agree more, my poor old Mum struggled last year with all that pushing and shoving just to get a seat with my step Dad.. it was awful, and queuing to get on the plane she was nearly pushed down stairs by the throng of poeple behind her as she goes slow.. the queues were really long and we went all round the place at Bristol just to board
chilly

It's not the airline's fault, just the nasty selfishness of the travelling public.

But they create the panic Alsa . I'll admit we get in the queue too and I have even been known to run for the back steps .. a little girl on the bus challenged me to a race once and because it was all a bit of fun at the time I gave her one . Made a right idiot of myself and once the laughter had died down not particularly proud of myself .

However back to their reasons for continuing with this scrum mentality . I dont think it has a lot to do with cost of producing a pre-allocated seat , it cant possibly do for the reasons stated by UKbill .I believe it's more to with the fact that they want the fastest boarding they can possibly get in order to turn their planes round fast and lets be fair they do a pretty good job of it . Never once have we had a delay on an EJ flight .

Never thought of it that way Lyn - you could well be right

I take your point Lyn, but still feel that the travelling public contribute to the hysteria when boarding aircraft where seats have not been allocated in advance.

For years, Britain was associated with our ability to form a disciplined queue. It was almost a matter of national pride and fair play. Other countries considered it to be a distinctive trait of 'Britishness'.

Sadly I think that this discipline and self-control has been lost in the last few years.

HOWEVER ... back on topic, it would be good to see allocated seating or some subdivision of check-in timings applied to low cost carriers using the UK. In the US, Southwest Airlines was the role model for Ryanair, and they manage their boarding speedily and without stress. Maybe EJ and others should look over the pond.

lynwestie wrote:

However back to their reasons for continuing with this scrum mentality . I dont think it has a lot to do with cost of producing a pre-allocated seat , it cant possibly do for the reasons stated by UKbill .I believe it's more to with the fact that they want the fastest boarding they can possibly get in order to turn their planes round fast and lets be fair they do a pretty good job of it . Never once have we had a delay on an EJ flight .

I have never thought of that either Lyn but you may well be right. In which case its unlikely that they will change to allocating seat numbers on many flights.

Whilst it appears to be the most uncivilised boarding process in the world. It is quick. Passengers on an EJ flight certainly seem to get in their seats quicker than on a TC charter and they rarely miss their slots. It must mean they can keep their planes flying longer. I guess the only answer if you find it unsafe or intolerable is to fly with someone else although you would think they had some duty of care to ensure nobody gets hurt they might say it was passenger behaviour led. I've never had a delay on EJ.

having just booked a flight on EJ.. this topic is quite scary !... suppose we can't be bothered to go charging to the front of queue's maiming old folk and trampling on children... will we still get a seat ?... or do people do stupid things like a family of four sitting on 4 rows so they all get a window seat ??