I simply cannot believe this..."Gobsmacked" is the appropriate word.
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4833351/Navy-girl-ordered-to-remove-uniform-on-plane.html (http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4833351/Navy-girl-ordered-to-remove-uniform-on-plane.html)
Quote
Navy girl ordered to remove uniform on Virgin Atlantic flight
A BRAVE British squaddie was ordered to remove her military uniform on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Britain in case it offended other passengers, according to reports.
Royal Navy helicopter technician Nicky Howse was told she would not be allowed on board the plane at Heathrow if she did not remove her combat fatigues.
Petty Officer Howse, 32, was travelling back to her deployment in America after compassionate leave at home in the UK when she tried to catch the flight to Los Angeles.
She was confronted by a security official and Virgin Atlantic staff who asked her to get changed, the Daily Mail reported.
The jobsworth staff got their flight rules wrong by telling Nicky, from Ipswich, Suffolk that the company did not allow military personnel to fly in uniform.
In an email to a friend, she wrote: "It was horrific. I was made to feel uncomfortable in my own country for wearing the uniform I wear to defend the place.
"It made me ashamed of my country that a British serviceman can't travel in uniform. I was so distressed.
"It started at check-in. Some G4S security guy gave me the third degree about travelling in uniform. I was fuming. He was rude, he wouldn't let the check-in girl give me my passport.
"I was shaking with rage. I thought it was all done. But when I got to the departure gate I was taken to the side by the flight supervisor and they said I wasn't allowed to fly in uniform and had to wear a sleep suit.
"I then stood feeling completely humiliated with other passengers, clearly curious as to what was going on, staring at me, waiting for him to come back with the black pyjamas.
"I asked if it was Virgin policy, they said 'Yes'. I refused to wear it until after I was on board then still refused but basically got told I'd be asked to leave the flight if I didn't take it off or cover it up.
"I was basically told it was because 'We don't only fly British passengers' and told it was seen as a threat. I went ballistic. I said 'In the country I defend I can't wear my uniform?'
"They then said it was for my own safety to stop abuse to which I replied I can deal with that myself if it arises as I did in Afghanistan.
"Honestly, I was gobsmacked and horrified. I was so distressed, particularly since the whole reason I was travelling was for a funeral."
A Virgin Atlantic spokesman told the Daily Mail: "This was a completely isolated case in which our staff were incorrectly advised by a security agent.
"We have made contact with the passenger in question to express our deep regret for any upset caused."
how is a ****-pot security company like G4S advising Virgin staff on their own security policy
Fkng disgusting, i know she felt humiliated but im sure if she had the balls to shout out to all the passengers at the gate if they minded her wearing her uniform she would have been applauded by all
What is wrong with traveling in uniform? Those people are idiots.
Quote from: LongBlade on March 11, 2013, 09:09:47 AM
What is wrong with traveling in uniform? Those people are idiots.
honestly?
its so that all the afghanistan/iraqi passengers dont get upset
theyre allowed to line the street and boo our troops when they come home and IIRC they tried a protest at Wootton Bassett where all the coffins come through but they soon got 'taken away'
Quote from: undercovergeek on March 11, 2013, 09:13:53 AM
Quote from: LongBlade on March 11, 2013, 09:09:47 AM
What is wrong with traveling in uniform? Those people are idiots.
honestly?
its so that all the afghanistan/iraqi passengers dont get upset
I say let them walk if it offends them.
Quote from: LongBlade on March 11, 2013, 09:20:27 AM
Quote from: undercovergeek on March 11, 2013, 09:13:53 AM
Quote from: LongBlade on March 11, 2013, 09:09:47 AM
What is wrong with traveling in uniform? Those people are idiots.
honestly?
its so that all the afghanistan/iraqi passengers dont get upset
I say let them walk if it offends them.
amen to that, but you havent a hope in hell of that happening here
'Racist airline company made me sit next to murderer' would be all over the tabloids the next day, Virgin would be sued for millions for the distress caused to the passenger and youd get a lawyer at the bottom of all stairways on future flights asking if passengers had to sit next to servicemen in uniform
Quote from: undercovergeek on March 11, 2013, 09:04:47 AM
how is a ****-pot security company like G4S advising Virgin staff on their own security policy
they're the 'cops' at many UK airports - that's how. They're the ones contracted to provide security b/c the UK doesn't yet have its own
Department of Idiotic Travel Conformity, er... Department of Home
MotherLand Security.
Quote from: bayonetbrant on March 11, 2013, 09:25:24 AM
Quote from: undercovergeek on March 11, 2013, 09:04:47 AM
how is a ****-pot security company like G4S advising Virgin staff on their own security policy
they're the 'cops' at many UK airports - that's how. They're the ones contracted to provide security b/c the UK doesn't yet have its own Department of Idiotic Travel Conformity, er... Department of HomeMotherLand Security.
oh yeah i know that, these are the guys that fkd up the olympic security and we had to draft in soldiers - the bill was passed to G4S
what i dont get is some fkwitted security guard leaning over at checkin and saying to the Virgin rep - you guys dont let uniforms on planes
to which the reply should have been - mind your own frikking business, i work for Virgin not you
Curious as what the country of.origin is for the security guard and if he was a Muslim or not.
If I was a muslim I would be tearing my beard and screaming some crap about jihad, however I do not do the religion thing. :'(
The airline people and the security people and the cops all wear uniforms and uniformed military people travel all over.
This is just nuts. You stop where you are and demand a supervisor and failing that a cop or do what that Chinese guy did.
Quote from: Longdan on March 11, 2013, 11:03:04 AM
If I was a muslim I would be tearing my beard and screaming some crap about jihad, however I do not do the religion thing. :'(
The airline people and the security people and the cops all wear uniforms and uniformed military people travel all over.
This is just nuts. You stop where you are and demand a supervisor and failing that a cop or do what that Chinese guy did.
start making jackie chan films?
You know the guy in that viral video doing the Jackie Chan imitation.
Jackie Chan films are wonderful.
Quote from: Longdan on March 11, 2013, 11:51:17 AM
You know the guy in that viral video doing the Jackie Chan imitation.
Jackie Chan films are wonderful.
he was the first famous chinese person that popped into my head - i have no idea what chinese person youre referring to
He is on a thread hereabouts over at Enigmas http://grogheads.com/forums/index.php?topic=4929.0
I'm glad that isn't actually the airline's policy.
On the other hand, she shouldn't have been travelling in combat fatigues in the first place to her deployment in America. That's international travel 101 for military members.
Even for Brits on funeral travel?
Quote from: LongBlade on March 11, 2013, 09:20:27 AM
Quote from: undercovergeek on March 11, 2013, 09:13:53 AM
Quote from: LongBlade on March 11, 2013, 09:09:47 AM
What is wrong with traveling in uniform? Those people are idiots.
honestly?
its so that all the afghanistan/iraqi passengers dont get upset
I say let them walk if it offends them.
In all fairness, I really doubt that most Afghan or Iraqi passengers on a transatlantic flight would have got upset and the ones that would are the types that she had been fighting in Afghanistan and that the US probably won't welcome either. >:(
"I say let them walk if it offends them." (LB)
Hard to do at 36,000 feet, but we can try. Do we have airlocks for the outer doors? ;)
(Guess this is now off to R&P and I get a 3 day ban for my insensitive comment?) ;)
Quote from: Longdan on March 11, 2013, 03:00:15 PM
Even for Brits on funeral travel?
Are you asking me?
So she's travelling from America, where she is on deployment, to Britain for a funeral and she doesn't have an appropriate civilian outfit to wear for her travel?
Then the answer is "yes, even Brits on funeral travel."
If she was flying into Britain direct from Afghanistan, that's another story. I've seen lots of Army dudes at BWI which is a large hub for vets coming and going from the war zone. My understanding is that those guys don't carry much, if any, civilian clothing with them.
Having said all that, I'm glad the airline doesn't actually have this policy because it is insulting to deny a military member service because she is in uniform. The way the airline treated her is deplorable and I'm glad it made the news.
IMO G4S is becoming a kiss of death for major contracts. They made a hash of the Olympics security, they've a spotty record on running prisons and now this... just embarrassing. Why does the UK government keep awarding them contracts? :o
Probably because the officials who make the decisions on these things (or persuasive parties which the officials are beholden unto in some way) are well connected/invested with said security firm.
The lowest bidder is always cheaper.. isn't that why privatising always works always. The Army used to be private.
That didn't work out so good for governments but that's no reason not to privatise everything else. Is it?
Quote from: Boggit on March 11, 2013, 08:18:53 PMWhy does the UK government keep awarding them contracts?
Honestly, there aren't a lot of competitors for them in the UK. G4S is one of the 10-15 largest private employers in the world. Hell, they've got an office here in town, across the parking lot from the old company I used to work for. They're HUGE, and that lets them (a) take on enormous projects like Olympic security, and (b) spread the costs of big projects across a pretty large company, allowing them to keep costs pretty low.
Yes, they dicked up Olympic security, and yes, it should've been a gov't-run event all along.
But how many squaddies would've had to be pulled off the line for guard duty in London during the Olympics if they hadn't brought in private folks for the one month they were needed?
And once they decided to go private, who were they going to hire? Seriously - who else could have even attempted to pull that one off? Wackenhut? They're owned by G4S. Sandline? Shut down by the UK gov't and were never that big to start with. Blackwater / DynCorp / Triple Canopy / Armor Group? All tainted by sensationalist stories from the war zones - some fairly, some not. If not G4S, then who? There isn't anyone.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 12, 2013, 06:08:08 AM
Quote from: bayonetbrant on March 12, 2013, 05:57:12 AM
If not G4S, then who? There isn't anyone.
I'll do it.
And you would probably do a far better job! Their performance at the Olympics and lack of competence elsewhere is just scary.
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 12, 2013, 06:08:08 AM
Quote from: bayonetbrant on March 12, 2013, 05:57:12 AM
If not G4S, then who? There isn't anyone.
I'll do it.
\
Okay. But you can't kill people just for pissing you off.
I wouldnt put money on that bet dan.
Quote from: GDS_Starfury on March 12, 2013, 06:57:31 PM
I wouldnt put money on that bet dan.
I think he would have better said it, you should excersize restraint and you should endeavor to limit the bodycount....
can't is a little like
'don't you dare'
Quote from: Jarhead0331 on March 12, 2013, 06:08:08 AM
Quote from: bayonetbrant on March 12, 2013, 05:57:12 AM
If not G4S, then who? There isn't anyone.
I'll do it.
And hire me (part-time)!!
But I'd be more inclined to offend by giving uniformed service personnel preferred seating.
The only thing that I can figure on the uniform is the the RN required her to fly in uniform, and it was the only one that she had on hand... apart from the obvious thought that it's the most comfortable one to wear whilst taking long flights. But who knows.