12 Hour flight to Newark without a food service!!

Hi,

I was on the VS017 (W) on Tuesday night and the flight ended up taking almost 12 hours - 2hours into the flight a passenger had a panic attack and became violent and we were turned back. Initially we were going all the way back to Heathrow but then we got clearance to land at Shannon.

That wasn't too bad, these things happen and no-one wants to spend a flight with someone who is a potential danger to other passengers or crew. What was a problem was that this incident somehow interrupted the food service and meant that no meals could be served to Economy or PE passengers. After spending 2hrs on the ground at Shannon and an hour burning fuel before landing etc etc all we were given to eat was a packet of biscuits and the cold starter from the first meal service.

I know the crew wouldn't have done this intentionally but they seemed to make little effort to share out any other food they might have had on board. I also thought that there is usually a second snack service just before landing - this didn't materialise either??

Has anyone else ever experienced anything similar (or visited Ireland in VS metal?) I also don't know if this is a matter worth complaining about to Virgin?

I would guess that the ovens were put on shortly after take off from LHR, by the time you had diverted the meals had cooled down and for food safety reasons the meals could not be reheated.

There would have been no agreement with caterers in SNN to uplift more food.

It seems to me, from what you describe, that service was very inturupted. Once they turned, then they would be in 'preparation for landing' mode so couldn't serve food. On the ground, they could have got a take off slot at any time, so would not have wanted to have a food service out for fear of loosing their slot. I am sure the crew wanted to get you on the way again ASAP (and wanted to get off duty themselves ASAP!)

I am afraid this is the way it goes in such an unusual circumstance. To be honest, I wouldn't complain, assuming they got some food to you once you were on your way again.

Did the cabin crew not explain why they could not serve the rest of meal? I would have asked if they didn't.

[honey lamb]

It must have been quite frightening on the board the aircraft at the time and of course between dealing with the passenger, securing the cabin for landing there was a lot for the crew to do. I don't know at what stage the meal service was interrupted but the real risk there to my mind was that of potential food poisoning from re-heating food which had already been heated, and no-one wants that. It would have been impossible to re-cater the aircraft at that time of night in SNN so I would have thought that the crew did the best they could under the circumstances

Incidentally VS metal is regularly seen in Ireland but more commonly in Dublin where it goes for maintenance, re-fits, etc. I have often seen them there. I know that VS planes have also landed at SNN

I asked and it's pretty much as Declan said. It just seemed like they werent very interested. The sum total of food served was a packet of biscuits and a packet of pretzels, a bread roll and a lump of cheese (that is usually on the side of the meal). As a Premium Economy Passenger in a half empty cabin, i felt that they could have at least offered us whatever was left over from the UCS food service?

Can you just clear something up. As I understand now, you got the biscuits, pretzels, cheese and bread only from the first meal, and nothing at all from the second. Is this right?

While I understand the comments about the crew wanting to get on the way as quick as possible and the dangers of food poisoning, I don't see why a complaint shouldn't be made as the customers have paid for a service and did not recieve it - therefore some sort of compensation should be in order[:?]

VS.

We once had turbulence that delayed the food service.

We were advised that they couldn't reheat the meals, but were given the choice to have one anyway.

I recall accepting and had a luke-warm meal.

There was no second service which i did find odd - i couldn't remember if you normally get a second service on an evening flight - i thought they usually have a cold sandwhich or roll? Certainly no offer of anything or apology for that.

I agree with VS045 - whilst i know it was no-ones fault, it still wasnt the service that i paid for.

Originally posted by markb
I agree with VS045 - whilst i know it was no-ones fault, it still wasnt the service that i paid for.

I think, on reflection, this is a fair point. Particularly if there was no further food.

There may have been a number of problems. Firstly with the food being already heated and then cooling down - I would always go on the side of caution and the thought of suddenly 200 people becoming ill siz to eight hours after a reheated meal is not a pleasant one. Also as has been said there would not have been anywhere to restock the aircraft where you landed.

Even if there was then the chances are that you may not have made it all the way due to the fact that some of the crew could well be on short trips due to their hours.

This could also explain why the service was not up to as good a standard because the crew still require their rest period which wouldn't have helped when trying to do any service. Plus the fact from how you explain it they would have needed their rest periods. While virgin crews (and others) are well trained in all sorts of situations on their flights it is very easy for the people sitting down to forget just how stressful a situation like that is for the passenger involved and the crew.

For the record whenever I have been on a VS flight like that the crew have always been utterly professional but no matter what training they have the real things is always a lot different.

Hopefully the passenger recovered well, does anyone know? I know the Shannon crews see a lot in a days work from the transatlantic flights and they are always utterly professional.

Sorry your flight wasn't as expected but lets hope the return will be better and that everyone turned out ok.

At the very least the crew owed the passengers an explanation for the reduced service. While we can accept that there may have been reasons why food could not be served, there is no excuse for a lack of communication, that's just bad customer service.

While I feel for all, the crew, the passengers and the person taken ill particularly, simple good service allows the paying customer to understand and accept. I often feel on this forum that, because we all love VS, we accept lower standards and forgive more. There's nothing wrong with complaining, as long as it is fair and balanced, and matched by reward and motivation when things are good. As it is, please write and complain, and expect a standard letter but at least hold out for some miles.

The second meal service would have been sandwiches/scone or something similar. You said Tuesday 'night', so then there it should have been a breakfast of sorts. I can't understand you not getting that. It was a long flight with so little food.

Theres quite a bit of discussion here about the removal of the second sandwich service on the shorter trans- atlantic flights.

The main issue here seems to be communication... the lack of food can be explained by not being able to serve/reheat the food after a certain time, caused by the diversion... it sounds like they served the second snack service with the starter/dessert off the main meal tray so they had given all the food available.
Also I guess they had similar problems in Upper so probably no spare food there to distribute to Premium Econ pax.
From the number of hours you mention it sounds like this crew were working well into their discretionary hours so this might have affected things... Certainly on-loading any food in SNN could have resulted in delay and the flight going over-night there.

Of course its worth writing to Customer Relations for a full explanation, but from what I can see the main issue is not having things explained at the time. I doubt the crew held back on any food available, but it sounds like there could have been a bit more communication.

Of course - the second meal, the sandwich - has been pulled from the East Coast flights, and replaced with biscuits/brownie/cake.

If VS were still catering the sandwiches, they could have offered those instead. Just one more way VS are shooting their feet off.

Cheers!
Mike

Has anyone else ever experienced anything similar (or visited Ireland in VS metal?) I also don't know if this is a matter worth complaining about to Virgin?

On the way back from EWR some years ago, a gentleman in Economy had what appeared to be a heart attack. The captain asked for a nurse or anyone who could speak Urdu. We were sitting in PE in the exit row seats and the crew asked us for our pillows while they tried to resusitate him in front of us. The captain then informed us that we would be landing in Shannon so the gentleman could receive treatment.[y]

We had already swapped seats in PE with a chap who didn't want to sit near the exit (he was scared[?])and then the cabin crew moved us into UC until we got to Shannon. Sitting in three different seats during one flight. Is that some kind of record?:)

{mcuth: edited to tidy up quoting tags around quoted message}

How was the poor chap MrsG?

Originally posted by sailor99
How was the poor chap MrsG?

To my shame, I don't know what happened to him. They took him off at Shannon and that was it. I did think about ringing Virgin after the flight to ask how he was but didn't know if they would give me any information. I have to say though that I was very impressed with how calmly and efficiently the cabin crew handled the situation[y]

Originally posted by MrsG

Has anyone else ever experienced anything similar (or visited Ireland in VS metal?) I also don't know if this is a matter worth complaining about to Virgin?

We've had a couple of diverts to Shannon before for very frightening conditions and we have normally got feed back how the passenger was. In fact one of them was quite a hot topic for the old 200 pilots as we all decided lowering altitude could improve the passengers condition which meant he 'got to have real fun' and literally nose dived down about 20,000 feet.

As all the crew were tied up helping only a quick breakfast service was served and no hot food in upper either. It got quite nasty with one guy chucking yoghurt over one of the cabin crew as his family had not been served enough drinks during the flight - needless to say he was met with a nice surprise at LGW with a couple of armed police and a dog!!!

Originally posted by ade99

Originally posted by MrsG

Has anyone else ever experienced anything similar (or visited Ireland in VS metal?) I also don't know if this is a matter worth complaining about to Virgin?

needless to say he was met with a nice surprise at LGW with a couple of armed police and a dog!!!

I am very pleased to hear it [y].I hope the dog bit him, or at least I would have hoped so had it not meant he had a case against the police.

Originally posted by sailor99

Originally posted by ade99

Originally posted by MrsG
[quote]Has anyone else ever experienced anything similar (or visited Ireland in VS metal?) I also don't know if this is a matter worth complaining about to Virgin?

needless to say he was met with a nice surprise at LGW with a couple of armed police and a dog!!!

I am very pleased to hear it [y].I hope the dog bit him, or at least I would have hoped so had it not meant he had a case against the police.

I think the bite he was going to get from his wife afterwards would have been much worse especially with the kiddies seeing dad being such an idiot.

Just had an interesting conversation with a friend of mine who is a VS Cabin Supervisor. She mentioned that on her last flight to EWR they diverted to Shannon due to a disruptive pax! I said I think I know about that flight and read a few of the comments on this thread to her. So to clear up a few points....

My friend was actually one of the supervisors on this particular flight. The main problem with the food is that VS regulations regarding service of food means that it must not fall below a certain temperature. On this flight food was not fully cooked before the diversion and but could not be reheated. Crew then used what was left, (including using some of the crew food) to distribute amongst the pax. As far as my friend was concerned the pre-landing snack was served (maybe something more substantial was expected as it used to be until recently). Food was not available to be loaded in SNN so that was a non starter.

The communication from VS Operations originally would have meant a nightstop in SNN but the crew agreed to use their discretion (they are allowed up to two hours additional duty) in order to complete the flight that night. They used most of the two hours discretion of duty to ensure the pax made it to EWR that night.

A number of Y pax completed comment cards praising the crew for managing a bad situation well.

I hope that this message is taken as informative rather than judgemental. My friend said it was a difficult flight and a long duty for all crew and that they felt they did do their best.

Graham

I'm sorry but take out your 'incident' - lets say 4 hours - and there was stil plenty of time to serve something. I am pretty sure the crew did not go hungry. I suppose its all down to education and manners with someone has the professionalism to advise what is happening- some people have it in spades others think it applys to others. And some (it seems quiet a few from what we hear) just should not be in the industry of customer service.
Rolls, the desserts and the salads all dont need reheating in a steamer. I suppose the fridges were turned off as well. And as another poster mentioned - sandwiches.