BA's letter of apology

In the News: Travellers flay spraying of pesticides on Europe-bound flight
http://odili.net/news/source/2006/feb/7/468.html
...Besides accusing European airlines of spraying passengers leaving African cities with pesticides, the petitioners allege that these airlines charge exorbitant fares on African routes, render poor services, and do nothing to reprimand their staff who are often very rude to African passengers. “The rudeness of most European airline staff to Africans is serious enough to bother any human being with a conscience. Africans at European airports are simply ignored, snubbed and downright disrespected. In fact, a substantial number of African passengers feel frustrated when trying to ask European flight attendants and staff any question concerning their connecting flights.

The way European airlines treat passengers on the African routes is, for lack of a better word, disgraceful. And i don't blame them, we seem to accept all the crap they throw at us.
Using the Nigerian route as an example, this route is dominated by Virgin and BA, and for both airlines it is one of their most profitable routes. The price of a ticket from London to Lagos is the same as the cost of a ticket to Sydney (which is on the other side of the world). This issue of spraying insecticide (while the plane is filled with passengers) is just 'taking the piss'

We pay so much, yet they treat us like 'second class citizens'. I'm going to refrain from even talking about the role of the government in protecting the interests of its citizens. Lets face it, any Nigerian that expects the Nigerian government to protect them is living in lala land.

Personal experience with BA
So i had a bit of a problem with BA on my last trip to Lagos in 04, the usual thing, faulty engine, flight delayed for hours etc. To be fair to BA they did offer to put us up in an hotel, however the hotel they offered was not to my "high" standards at all. I mean i may have stayed in a few 'shitty' hostels and hotels in my many travels but at least i was the one paying for it, in this case BA was paying so there was no way i was going to stay in 'stopover hotel' or 'airport hotel', if their own flight crew was going to stay in sheraton then i had to stay there as well.

Unfortunately for me the BA ground staff in Lagos was having none of it, so i ended up spending the night at MMA (with the bloody A/C on full blast!!). To cut a long story short i got back to the UK and took it up with their customer services with the usual 'Naija shakara' that all true 'naijas' learn if they ever lived in Lagos.
Lo and behold BA came begging with a generous offer of compensation. (and that was how i ended up in Australia some months ago)

And its not just BA i've claimed compensation from, KLM too got the same treatment for messing around with my luggage.

The moral of my story is, if you are unhappy with the way an airline or any company treats you, complain, hit them hard, if you're in Nigeria don't complain there, send it to their main base and make sure you chase it up.

Quote: "You can safely assume that you've created God in your own image when it turns out that God hates all the same people you do." ~Anne Lamott

get involved by sponsoring an African child today:
http://www.plan-uk.org/wherewework/westafrica/