Airline Moves Dead Body to 1st Class

You do make a valid point if this was a pure balck and white world we live in. Not everyone sees a dead person as an "object", plus she might have had relatives there on the flight, sensitivity has to be taken into account, it's a tough balancing act.

I can in no way suggest anything except i was ina situation like that, it's one thing to analyse situation from a distance, it's another thing to be directly involved and then handling it.

She did have relatives with her on the flight - and I can see why they wouldn't want to land en route.... after all, put yourself in their position.

You're travelling home from a holiday in India with granny - and she unexpectedly pops her clogs.

Do you...

a) ask the pilot to land at the nearest airport.... say somewhere in Iran, or Syria or Turkey.... off-load Granny, and potentially the relatives (after all someone's got to sort out getting her home!)

b) stay on the flight and get an undertaker to meet you at the airport

Of course landing isn't the best option for the family if she's actually died. Only if she was ill and there was a chance of saving her by landing and getting medical help.

I know exactly how I feel about it.

He paid for a seat in first class. When they put a corpse next to him, they made it cargo.

If it were me and they refused, I'd make a real nuisance of myself and start picketing travel agencies with a sign saying, "British Airways Made Me Sit Next to a Corpse" and watch the agents start to complain.

BA has left a bad taste in my mouth before and this kind of solidifies it. He paid for a First Class ticket, it wasn't an upgrade and it wasn't a bump-up. I would be livid.

personally, it wouldn't make any difference if it were an upgrade or a bump-up. He sat down expecting a first class seat in a first class compartment, full of living people. Now, I'm not saying that "things happen" isn't a valid excuse, but they should also make good on their expectation of service.

I do understand them not wanting to pay money out of pocket, but the real cost of say of a first-class round-trip ticket anywhere BA flies would be minimal and such a remedy wouldn't be out of line.

It doesn't appear that it was full, no. He said he woke up next to the body.

Personally, I would not be able to remain in a seat next to a corpse and I don't think anyone traveling in any class should be expected to do so.

Oh my gosh, me either! I've handled one dead body (CPR) and that was because the old lady had just collapsed at a friend's door and that still freaks me out. Sit next to one? No way. I'd have shown them that their notion that placing a body next to me would be "less disruptive" was way, way off.