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Simon Phipps's personal commentary

BA Customer Service Reaches New Heights

When we travel these days, we are all suspected terrorists. Each of us traversing the airport is repeatedly treated without respect or dignity as we are frisked, questioned, ID-ed, commanded and found-fault-with by unaccountable people. I've already reported here on this subject a few times from my own experiences and pointed to earlier idiocies.

But Dave Farber's 'Interesting People' list has just yielded the (sour) cherry on the top. BA, the world's favourite airline (for people who enjoy being treated badly) ejected John Gilmore from a flight and then denied him travel on another flight for wearing a lapel badge with a political slogan because (a) the crew didn't understand the badge he was wearing and (b) didn't bother to try and (c) being British had never heard of the First Amendment and (d) they could and no-one can tell them otherwise.

The badge simply said "Suspected Terrorist" like in the first sentence of this posting and despite having passed through all the usual 'security' apparatus (BA check-in, SFO TSA, gate check-in, boarding greeter) and being declared no risk by anyone, John was ejected from the flight and then denied further travel and so was his companion.

The terrorists have won if we turn our country into an authoritarian theocracy "to defeat terrorism". I suggested that British Airways had demonstrated that trend brilliantly today. She understood but wasn't sympathetic -- like most of the people whose individual actions are turning the country into a police state.

It seems the crew thought the badge was in bad taste (actually, in context, I'm not sure I agree with them) and refusing to remove something in bad taste is enough to get you denied travel. Reminds me of a song by the Manic Street Preachers. BA provided the best possible object lesson in the problem John is campaigning against - couldn't have been better if he had set it up. These people have way to much power with way too little accountability.

[Footnote 1: In case you don't know, John Gilmore was one of the first employees of Sun Microsystems and once financially independent because of his work at Sun devoted himself to civil liberties projects, including founding the EFF. Check out his web site or, if it's down, the Google cached version.]

[Footnote 2: Reading other coverage of this, I was led to amazing comments on Metafilter, where there are plenty of folk who believe the arbitrary exercise of unreasonable authority is just fine and that Gilmore is just a fool looking for trouble. If BA has a problem with Gilmore, they should have said so at check-in, the gate or on boarding. As it is, the action is arbitrary and unjust. Andrew Cooke's comment sums up the issue nicely:

i'm starting to wonder exactly what reading material i can take with me. presumably the "terrorist" t shirt i posted a link to the other day can't be worn. i guess lessing's "the good terrorist" is ok, cos it looks like a real book, but woodcock's "anarchism" (a history of the movement) probably wouldn't be that good because it has "anarchism" in beg red letters on the cover (i'm not casting round desperately for examples here, just looking at the booskshelf by my side as i type).

I'm now waiting to see the press comment & BA reaction. I have a nasty feeling no-one will care.]

posted at 3:11 PM (UK) | |