Airline passenger news and views

Peter Wilson is someone that I have known for a long time. He is an ex-overseas correspondent on a National newspaper and not one that is easily phased. OK, he is retired now but he has, let us say, ‘been there and done that’ in some of the rougher parts of the world. You might call him a very seasoned traveler.

He has e-mailed me about his experiences this week in Madrid as one of the many thousands of Brits trying to get back to the UK. When someone like Peter describes it as a fiasco, you do have to take note and listen.

Peter had been in Europe with his wife, was stranded like so many others and was keeping up on the news by Internet and telephone. They had money, had a hotel and so were in good shape but did want to get back home because a new grandchild was due any day. Peter heard that the UK government was organizing a repatriation assembly point in Madrid and was laying on 100 coaches to bring people back to the UK. As he says, it made sense and was a good plan. Madrid is easily accessible and was a logical choice.

Peter was also aware of the plan to use Naval ships to collect people from overseas ports but Madrid seemed simpler and more convenient. As he says, this was not rocket science, you simple get people and the coaches into one convenient location and away you go. Peter had obviously forgotten about the abject ineptitude of our government and those who now make up the civil service.

Peter says it was shambles and felt it almost an embarrassment to be British. He describes the Embassy as having access to 100 coaches but unable to use them because the expected number of people had either not turned up or had been turned away.

There was apparently confusion over the allocation of seats between those flying in from intercontinental airports and those that had arrived by road or by train from Spain and Portugal. Peter says he could understand prioritising those that had flown in over those that had local accommodation but in this case there were only about 10 coaches filled and 90 held in standby. Why they could not just get people into coaches and onto the road home was beyond me.

Peter stresses that he does not want to sound ungrateful. He and his wife were glad of the ride home and would have happily paid any organisiation, private, charitable or governmental that had the witt and initiative to run the service but why did it have to be made so difficult?