A Thomas Cook jet has flown into a PR whirlwind after the flight crew scared the pants off terrified holidaymakers by asking them to sit at the back of the plane in order to balance it up before take-off.
Many of the passengers, returning to Newcastle from their holidays in Majorca, initially thought it was bad joke when the airline told them to move so that they balanced the heavy luggage stored in the front hold.
But when they realised that it was a serious request travellers began to panic, with 71 of the 186 passengers refusing to board the jet.
Airport staff were unable to load baggage into the rear hold of the aircraft because the access door was jammed shut, leaving the plane nose heavy.
Thomas Cook said afterwards that it was standard for all airlines to move passengers around in order to ensure even distribution of weight.
Such incidents rely on the way passengers are given information, yet the crew on this particular flight somehow failed miserably in conveying this simple message and caused mass hysteria and a wave of negative publicity in the process.
In light of recent air tragedies and incidents, passengers are naturally nervous about flying. And so all operators need to remind their cabin crews of the importance of reassuring passengers that such procedures are totally normal and routine.
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