Having failed to elicit even an acknowledgement from BWIA about our concerns you may find the following of interest.
Expect delayed departures: We left Heathrow 7 hours late. Did we get a meal voucher? Yes we did but no one bothered to tell us you could only use it Landside and as we were told to proceed Airside this did not help. You might like to note that there is no possibility of encountering any staff representing BWIA once you get airside so any chance of resolving any problems you may have is neatly denied you.
BWIA operates two Airbus aircraft on a shuttle to the Caribbean. One is fairly new and is OK with reasonable leg room even in economy and most things work. The other has seems to have been aquired from the equivalent of a back street car lot. It's tired, none of the inflight entertainment works neither do half the loos. The seat pitch on this aircraft is definitely geared for short haul cattle class and not International travel. The attitude of the flight attendants on this aircraft matches the standard of accomodation. Avoid this aircraft. If BWIA can't be bothered to fix the bits that we sit in can you imagine what goes on with the bits we can't see?
Arriving in Trindad 7 hours later than planned means an overnight stop if you are in transit. BWIA will put you up. However your late arrival will be a total surprise. You won't be met or receive any customer service until you have collected all your bags and dragged them to the furthest check in desk from the arrivals hall. The staff will promise you a nice hotel and the first flight out. What this means is that you will be taken to a 'luxurious' hotel on the outskirts of the airport and given a third world standard room. Air conditioning? No. Clean bathrooom? Err No, Clean bed? On the surface yes but a fine collection of pubic hair down the side. Fluffy pillows? Oh yes. The finest foam suitably aired and wafting the gentle perfume of a thousand sweaty heads. The first flight out sounds pretty good now. You might as well catch it as if you don't it will wake you on departure!
Our transfer was an elderly DC8. It was white with brown exhaust stains up the tail. BWIA staff were afraid to approach the aircraft. Passengers were required to wander to the rear of the aircraft (which had it's engines running!) and board through the tail gangway. Nothing wrong with that but all consideration of hazard to the passengers was ignored. Clearly BWIA was not worried about passengers damaging the aircraft! Pre flight briefing on this aircraft was perfunctory. Seat belt briefing? Yes. Landing on water? No. Perhaps this was irrelevant as the liklehood of a lifejacket being available on the aircraft looked slim.
Now if you really like excitement this aircraft is for you. It's operated with the cabin door open so you can hear all the alarms going off while the crew converses with their gang of friends at the front of the aircraft. It's probably too late. This aircraft has certainly returned to its former life running drugs in South America.
By now you should have got the picture. We have tried complaining and raising these issues but BWIA does not even acknowledge Faxes or letters. Even the Chairman fails to reply. Could it be he's not interested once he has your money?
To summarise: Don't expect.
1) Any Customer Service pre-flight, in-flight or post flight.
2) Don't expect anything on the BWIA flight to work.
3) Your safety will be of little concern.