Returned from landing: a Russian was deprived of a seat on the plane due to a “technical failure”

A few days ago there was a scandal with one of the Russian airlines. Tourists bought cheap tickets to Thailand, but they were soon cancelled. Allegedly, there was a sudden technical failure, and therefore no one owes anyone anything. Since people fell for the cheapness bait en masse, Rospotrebnadzor offered assistance to failed passengers in filing a class action lawsuit.

And now there is a new scandal, this time with another airline.

Three passengers were not boarded on the flight from Kaliningrad to Moscow – allegedly also due to a technical failure in the system.

The two were stopped at the front desk. And the third Nikolai Erney has already passed through it, checked in his luggage and completed the inspection.

“I was caught at the gate. They said that I had to go back to the check-in counters, and that’s it – I didn’t fly. Allegedly due to the fact that I did not choose a paid seat, they gave me a free one, but then someone bought it. Already after me. And they gave him this place, but I didn’t fly at all, so, in any case, they tried to explain it to me,” the man, by the way, permanently residing in Germany, is indignant.

“Another passenger who was canceled with us was flying to Moscow to conclude a real estate deal, and was also late for it,” Erney continues.

The third one who did not fly, Elena (her contacts are available in the editorial office), was separated from her two children. “They had already checked in, and they stopped me at the counter. No arguments like this – they will fly, but I won’t – didn’t help.”

At the same time, the family had non-refundable tickets, so it would simply not have been possible for all three of them to re-register for another flight – only Elena was given a new free one. “I wonder if I had missed this flight, even for a good reason, would anyone have looked into my circumstances? Why should only upstanding citizens suffer?” – the woman is perplexed.

At the same time, Elena admits that she is not ready to waste time, effort and nerves on complaints and lawsuits.

Unlike Nikolai Erney, who wants to fight for justice. “So they are counting on this, that people will spit and not seek compensation. And I, for example, am going to file a lawsuit now and will set moral damages of at least a million rubles. Even if it’s 100 rubles, they’ll pay. I think it’s their fault.”

Yes, lawyers emphasize that there is such a thing as overbooking, when a little more tickets are initially sold than passengers, in the expectation that someone will not show up, and the last ones to show up for check-in can be removed from the flight, but at the same time offer what -these bonuses: flight miles, dinner at an airport restaurant, free overnight stay and, of course, a flight, sometimes even a higher class. “There was nothing here at all, they didn’t even apologize. The call center said that this was not their problem, but there was no airline representative at check-in.”

The indignant Nikolai nevertheless flew to Moscow on the next flight two hours later. But the man claims that he never received an apology. Moreover, after talking with airport employees, the truth teller found out that this had apparently happened here before. “In such cases, people silently swallow the insult and do not complain, they resign themselves to everything.” Nikolay gives an example of extraordinary circumstances in which being removed from a particular flight would be catastrophic for a person.

“What if my wife gave birth? What if I was in a hurry to go to a funeral? Why was it me who was removed – or the passenger who did not purchase additional services such as choosing a seat – already third class?

Ural Airlines gave the following comment on what happened: “Due to a faulty situation in the check-in system, one passenger did not have enough space on the flight. He was transferred to the next flight U6-628 from 01.11.23 with a departure 2.5 hours later at 14.05 and flew away safely.”

“There were three of us! Obviously, the system only counted me as I was boarding, and they forgot about the rest, as if this was how it should be. But I have the coordinates of all the victims. You see, here, too, as in the case of cheap tickets to Thailand from another airline, employees refer to an alleged failure in the system. Well, what about the passengers? Then change the IT people, change the system,” the man, by the way, himself an IT specialist by profession, cannot reconcile.