That’s a new one…

I’m currently in the Sydney business lounge, which isn’t super unusual for this blog, but what makes it strange is that I’m here after my flight (and I don’t have an ongoing connection). I’m here for the FPS finals, and domestic FPS travel generally doesn’t warrant a blog post. However, I had a new experience today so I thought I’d commemorate it here.

No issues at the airport, straight though security, lounge coffee etc. I boarded my flight and was pleased with the extra leg room seat (18C) I managed to get on the new A321. I got connected to the inflight wifi and was watching JAG. The people sitting next to me arrived and I continued watching. The captain came on and said air traffic control has given us a 9.30 departure slot (delayed by 30 mins). The guy next to me said he needed the toilet and disappeared. He was gone for quite a while and the lady with him kept looking behind her. By this time I’m watching NCIS as the connection to my server was a bit slow and JAG was lagging. The the customer service manager came to me and asked if I could bring my iPad and come up the front to talk to him, he wanted me to bring my bag too…

I was a bit confused and had no idea what was happening. We got to the front and he asked me to step off the plane onto the air bridge. There were two or three other flight attendants with him. He explained that the person next to me was concerned about what I was looking at on my iPad because they had seen a picture of fuselage and a bomb. He asked if I could explain and I said that I was watching a TV show, NCIS. He asked if I could rewind and show him the part in question. At this point a manager of some sort from Perth Airport arrived and the qantas person filled him in.

The internet was very good so we went back to the terminal which didn’t help much. I finally managed to hotspot to my phone after I took it out of my pocket and put it on the counter. I showed them the explosion scene from NCIS but that wasn’t it, apparently there was a bomb scene. I then remembered that there was a bomb in JAG so I brought that up – it was a digram of a submarine with a scene showing bomb armed. After they viewed that it was fine. They apologised but said they hoped I understood that they had to take security threats seriously and presumably I would want the same to happen. I agreed but I was still feeling a bit uneasy and confused.

As we walked back to the plane the CSM said they had a spare seat and they might move me there so I wouldn’t be hassled by the people who ‘reported’ me. I commented that I was in 18C which was extra leg room but he said that this seat was at the front of economy and I’d be very happy with it. I said I was happy to sit wherever he wanted me. I ended up in 6D which is a good seat! I didn’t have my larger carry on case but the attendant said she’d move it once the flight was underway.

Unfortunately, the saga didn’t end there. By this point it was after the allocated departure time (I think I caused that delay!) and they announced the doors were closed and it was time to turn your devices to flight mode. I reacted for my phone, but it wasn’t there. Then I remember, I took it out of my pocket to get better signal to show them the video. It was still in the terminal. I rang the call bell and frantically waved and got the attention of flight attendants. They made some calls, but then there was the announcement to arm the doors and we took off.

I can’t remember if it was just before we took off, or after but the CSM came and told be they couldn’t get my phone, there wasn’t time if we would be able to make our take off slot. He said the captain was talking to Perth and he’d give me updates. He spoke to me a couple more time and after expressing my need for my phone he ensured they would help me in Sydney. He told me I should move my bigger case from above 18C and he would help me find space if needed. He said he would get off the plane with me to take me to someone who could help out. The rest of the flight was fine, but I only had a bout 3 mouthfuls of food and didn’t really get any work done as I was still a bit frazzled and put off. The in flight wifi wasn’t great today, it was fairly patchy.

When the flight landed I got off and the CSM introduced me to a guy at the end of the airbridge who said he would look after me. He explained that my phone was on the next flight to Sydney and would be here about 6.30. Did I want to wait for it or did I want me to try and get it to me. He said that I was welcome to wait in the lounge. I said that would be good, but I would need to call the car rental company to let them know I would be late. This guy said that would be fine and then waved over a supervisor, Danielle and handed me off to her. He asked her to take me to the business lounge (yay – I thought I would end up in the Qantas club). Het met us there and they waved me in, then Danielle let me use her phone to call the car rental company. She gave me her phone number (not much use) but said the desk staff could call her if I needed anything.

So the flight lands in about 20 minutes and then in theory I can go and collect my phone from baggage services. Not ideal or a fun experience but in the end Qantas did take pretty good care of me. The coffee, champagne and panini bar helped a lot.