A report in The Sunday Express finds British Airways management incensed over reports of heavy-drinking crews taking advantage of international stopovers to run riot at luxury hotels.
British Airways management is not taking a series of allegations of intoxicated crew members running amok during international layovers lightly. Ian Romanis, the airline’s head of Mixed Fleet Operations, referred to the slew of embarrassing incidents as “at its worst in terms of colleagues behaving inappropriately while down-route” in a strongly worded letter to employees.
“In doing so, these colleagues placed their own jobs at risk, jeopardized the relationship with some of our hotel partners and potentially tarnished the reputation of British Airways cabin crew,” Romanis wrote in the internal memorandum on the out-of-control behavior obtained by the Sunday Express. “Additionally, these examples impacted our ability to deliver the service our customers expect on the return flights to London.”
The incidents that Romanis appears to be referencing revolve around allegations of intoxicated off-duty crew members running wild at high-end hotels during downtime between flights. According to the newspaper, the unwelcome attention stems from a series of drunken escapades that included a crew member “streaking” through the lobby of a hotel completely naked on a dare and, in a separate incident, an intoxicated crew member reportedly being caught trying to fish in a hotel Koi pond.
British Airways officials denied receiving any complaints regarding the incidents in question. The raucous behavior is said to involve only a handful of crew members and there don’t appear to be any allegations of crew members reporting for duty while under the influence at this time. Destinations, including Las Vegas McCarran International Airport (LAS), Bangkok Don Mueang International Airport (DMK), Singapore Changi Airport (SIN) and O. R. Tambo International Airport (JNB), are among the locales that have developed a reputation as meccas for carousing British Airways crew members.
“We are in regular contact with all our crew hotels, and have not received any complaints about behavior for any of these destinations recently,” the airline told The Sunday Times in a statement. “We take the very rare reports of inappropriate behaviour extremely seriously and always investigate.”
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