If you work in aviation, you know that disruptions can happen. Working in operations control for over a decade now, I also know the wide range of such disruptions and that life can produce seemingly unimaginable situations. And you know what? I argue that working in aviation, everyone needs to experience these disruptions as a customer/passenger. To feel the true meaning of terms like ‚flight cancellation‘, ‚misconnection‘, ‚diversion‘. You have to experience these first hand. However, what happened to me last week is beyond ordinary. I was hesitant to name the airline in question, but that would derail the conversation about the real problem. I am posting this as I genuinely believe in the power of this network and that perhaps the right policymakers will read these lines. There are massive problems in aviation, and we should not pretend that everything is excellent.
So here are the facts. I was travelling from Budapest to Geneva on November 19 via a major European hub, with a connection time of 50 minutes. The Budapest-bound leg was already delayed a good 20 minutes. Also, I knew that there was an hour-long CTOT for this flight – although this was not published to passengers. I asked at the gate to rebook me to the next flight on the network as I was going to miss my connection at the original hub. I was ensured that everything was going to be fine and that I should board the original flight. So I did, and this was the first mistake.
Arriving at the hub with a final arrival delay of 30 minutes, I received a notification to the App that I was being misconnected and rebooked to the following day’s service to Geneva. Fine, I was kind of prepared for this. The biggest shock, however, was to receive the coldest and rudest answer from the Customer Center personnel, saying that due to two trade shows and many other flight disruptions, all the contracted hotels were full, and they could not book me a room. I should do it myself and claim compensation. All the available rooms I could find were ranging in the 3-4000 EUR category. When I asked if this was within the ‚reasonable range‘ for compensation, I was smiled at and told that most probably I was not eligible for anything anyhow, as this disruption was an ‚act of God‘ (they meant the heavy winds and one closed runway at this airport on this day).
Basically, a major global airline, at its home base, was not able/refused to provide hotel accommodation. The best they could do was to hand me over a leaflet about my rights. Funnily enough, in this very leaflet, it is written that the airline is responsible for providing hotel and food. This was at 23:00 local time. My flight to Geneva was departing at 07:05 the next morning. I had no other chance to spend the night at the mice-infested airport.
The following day, when asking for at least a food and drink voucher, I was told that food and drinks were supposed to be provided at the hotel and I was not eligible for anything else. I won’t lie; I started to lose it here. Alternatively, they told me to buy stuff myself and ask for compensation later online.
Fast forward: November 22 was the date of my return flight from Geneva to Budapest – this time through a different hub. Already on the 21st, it was obvious that this was going to be a challenge, as massive snow storms were forecasted for this region for the next day. I know what it means in operation. As expected, my flight from Geneva was cancelled; I was rebooked for the next flight from Geneva and for the morning service to Budapest. This time, I didn’t take chances: I spent the night at a friend’s place.
When I asked for a food and drinks voucher the next morning, I was told (again) that food and drinks were supposed to be provided in the hotel, but since I did not spend the night in any hotels, I was not entitled to any vouchers.
These are the facts, and now my comments.
In total, on one booking, I accumulated 21 hours of delay. On its own, this is not the problem. The real issue is: the airline group did not seem to be bothered to take care of me – and many many other passengers on these or similar flights.
Travel is Emotions. It indeed is. And you are extremely vulnerable at the airport. This Group seems to have created customer care procedures – because I refuse to accept the idea that front-line people are all rude and unwilling to help – which simply do not empower its own employees to help travellers in need. Spend your money first and then ask for reimbursement online? Where is it written that I need to have an online presence in the first place? Many travellers don’t even know how to check in online, let alone ask for compensation.
I clearly understand this structure. It is designed to save costs. If passengers do not request refunds and compensation online – the ONLY way possible currently – oh well, then we don’t need to pay them.
This is a rotten approach to customers. You are happy to charge close to four-digit figures for a 1.5-hour flight, but the minute your clients need help – that you are mandated to provide as per the law – you hide behind online forms. I tried to fill this form out, it is a nightmare. Cleverly done. Also, you put everyone into a very frustrating situation: both your customers and your employees. The customers are obviously very stressed and lost – typically, they are in a foreign country, they might or might not speak the language, and most of them have very limited knowledge about aviation, and to abuse this situation is merely inhuman. Your employees, well, they are your biggest asset, yet you expose them to furious passengers without giving them tools to mitigate the situation and at least calm people down by giving something, anything – a 10EUR food voucher for instance… How long can anyone work in such an environment, where their only option is to say: sorry, please claim it online, I cannot do anything here. And then we are surprised that employee retention is down the drain.
To conclude, this was by far the worst trip I ever experienced. I lost 21 hours without any kind of support there and then. No online form or later compensation can recover the negative emotions created by the disastrous customer care policies of the Group. So yes, travel is emotions; you just need to pay attention to it remaining positive. And not only for travellers but predominantly for those working for you.
