"Only Bolts Sticking Out Without Headrest"... British Airways Passenger's '7 Hours of Horror'

New in-flight seat design of British Airways. Unrelated to the article content.
Photo by British Airways

A story about a man who boarded a 7-hour flight while conscious of a protruding bolt due to the absence of a headrest on his seat has become a hot topic.

On the 29th, Business Insider in the U.S., citing the UK’s Kennedy News, reported that a British man on a British Airways flight experienced a 7-hour flight during which the headrest was missing and a 1-inch bolt was exposed and left unattended. The man flew with his wife from London Heathrow Airport to Toronto, Canada, on a 7-hour flight, with a round-trip cost reportedly amounting to ?2,500 (4.3 million KRW).

Upon boarding the plane, the man discovered that his seat lacked a headrest and that a 1-inch bolt was protruding from it. The flight attendant said that the plane was fully booked, so he could not move to another seat, but he could get off or use a first-class pillow to cover the bolt. Due to their schedule, the couple decided not to get off the plane and stayed on board. Instead, the man had to keep a pillow behind his head.

In an interview with the media, the man said, "It was very uncomfortable throughout the flight. The pillow was so thin that it felt like my head was banging repeatedly when leaning back," adding, "If I had hit my head on the bolt, I would have been injured." There were more issues. The couple had reserved in-flight meals, but the salad ran out, and only bread was provided. When they turned on the monitor in front of their seat to watch a movie, it was broken for several hours.

British Airways initially offered the couple a ?50 (85,000 KRW) voucher for use on their next trip, but after media coverage continued, the amount was reportedly increased, according to Kennedy News. The couple said, "It was our first time with British Airways, and we never want to fly with them again." A British Airways spokesperson told Business Insider, "We apologize for the customer’s experience and have reached out to resolve the issue."