By Patrick Griffin.
Low-cost carriers love to redefine things, to change things, to make things different.
They first stripped fares to the bone by introducing a no-frills service in exchange for previously unheard of low cost air travel, then they brought prices back up again with an unprecedented range of add ons, optional extras and surcharges.
Now they want to redefine how we even board the aircraft.
Take this recent announcement from easyJet at Belfast City Airport: “Ladies and gentlemen easyJet is pleased to announce that flight EZY 192 to London Luton is now ready for boarding. We have a very strict boarding policy and shall be…..”
Ready for boarding...but expect a long wait for the plane to arrive. Pic: © P.Griffin/www.PGTravelTips.com
Call me old fashioned but I understand the phrase ‘ready for boarding’ to mean “the aircraft is at the gate, all security checks have been completed, everything is in order and the passengers are now cleared to enter the aircraft.”
And that is exactly what I thought would happen when the 8.02am announcement was made by an easyJet ground crew member ahead of the upcoming 8.35am departure to Luton.
But I was wrong. Very wrong. As it happened, the aircraft, a white and orange Airbus A319 was not yet at gate six from where we would eventually board.
It was not even taxying to the gate, because it had not landed and would not do so for another 18 minutes.
So my question is this. How can an aircraft which is not even anywhere the airport it is departing from be ready for boarding?
This boarding announcement was no mistake because easyJet (and also Ryanair) routinely call passengers forward to board an aircraft which is not yet even landed.
Tall tails...passengers board flight EZY192 at Belfast City Airport. Pic: © 2010 P.Griffin/www.PGTravelTips.co.uk
What they really mean is this: “Ladies and gentlemen, we have just been informed that your inbound flight has commenced its descent and will be on the ground shortly.
“Therefore we want you to all line up and wait in a queue at the departure gate so that you will all be ready and waiting to get on board at such time as we are able to let you actually get on the aircraft.”
So a boarding announcement which was once an invitation to get onto the aircraft has become nothing more than an invitation to join a queue for an unspecified period of time.
What is even more amazing is that none of my fellow passengers seemed to mind this deception by the airline and appeared happy to join a queue at an empty boarding gate.
I was the only one constantly looking behind me for signs of the little Airbus on short final to runway 22 and at 8.19am I was rewarded with the sight of the aircraft approaching the airport threshold.
It still had to land, taxi to the gate, unload passengers and get their bags off until we would be ready to climb onboard which happened at 8.38am…exactly 36 minutes after the original PA announcement telling us the aircraft was “ready for boarding.”
By all means inform us the gate is open and tell passengers to go to the gate but, please, don’t tell us we can board an aircraft at an empty gate.
* Do you have an airport experience which irritates you? I would love to hear your views.
PG
