It may sound incredible, but it's true. An airline worker has had no choice but to ask passengers if they could contribute to a fundraiser so that they could pay for the spare parts the plane needed.
You read correctly, flight LO92 from Beijing to Warsaw needed a new hydraulic pump and passengers had to pay for it. Don't worry, their contributions were reimbursed and they have even been given tickets to travel with the airline for free in the future.
The fundraising was necessary because a Boeing technician refused to accept any form of payment other than cash. LOT Polish Airlines has stated that it has a contract with Boeing in which neither of the companies is allowed to make cash payments. Therefore, it has also said that the Boeing employee was not allowed to request a cash payment.
Furthermore, a representative of the airline apologised for the situation and said that the person buying the spare part should have had different methods of payment. Both cash and a credit card. He also thanked the passengers for their contribution and their help in making the flight finally take off, after a 10-hour delay.
That's right, even after a delay of 10 hours, the passengers themselves had to pay for aeroplane parts! We hope the passengers know their rights, because due to their delay, especially on such a long flight, they are entitled to claim around £530 in compensation.
The sum that the passengers managed to raise in order to pay the necessary part amounted to €300. The LOT Polish Airlines worker who asked for the funds argued that he knew the passengers personally.