British Airways changes 'discriminatory' seating policy for men



But it took a court case to budge them

British Airways has changed its seating policy after a businessman complained of being treated like a "child molester" when sitting next to a boy he did not know. The airline has confirmed to The Sunday Telegraph it has altered its procedures to protect unaccompanied minors – the aviation industry term for children flying without a parent or guardian.

It follows the case of Mirko Fischer, a hedge fund manager who was told to move seats by cabin crew under an internal rule that prevented adult males sitting next to unaccompanied children.

Mr Fischer ended up sitting next to the boy on the BA flight from London to Luxembourg when he switched seats with his pregnant wife, so she could be by the window.

The 35-year-old told staff he believed the airline's policy broke the Sex Discrimination Act and later said he felt he had been treated as a potential "child molester". He later won a compensation order at Slough County Court, in which BA admitted sex discrimination in his case and agreed to pay him costs of £2,161 and £750 in damages.

BA, which carried out a review of its policy following the case, now says "seating of unaccompanied minors is managed in a safe but non discriminatory manner".

Mr Fischer, who lives in Luxembourg, said he was "absolutely delighted" by the policy change. He has donated his compensation money to Kidscape and Orphans in the Wild, two child protection charities.

Tom Otley, editor of Business Traveller magazine, also welcomed the ruling, but added: "The end of discrimination is good news but most business travellers usually want to sit as far away as possible from unaccompanied children so this is unlikely to have a big impact on where people sit on-board."

Airlines are free to set their own seating policies regarding unaccompanied minors. Virgin Atlantic said it did not have a similar policy and easyJet said passengers were free to sit where they liked.

A spokesman for BA said: "We carry tens of thousands of unaccompanied minors every year and take great pride in the service that we provide to them and their parents. "We have offered this service on all flights for many years for children aged between five and 11 years old, who are travelling alone.

"Given that some of these flights last up to 13 hours and are overnight, we take the responsibility of caring for these children, whose safety and security has been entrusted to us, extremely seriously. "There is a specific seating department that has a range of guidelines to ensure that we place in an appropriate seat. "On some services, this will be in a specially created Unaccompanied Minors zone within a short distance of the cabin crew in the galley.

"We have recently changed our internal advice to our seating and airport teams to ensure that the seating of unaccompanied minors is managed in a safe but non discriminatory manner."

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