Wrongful deportation: Egypt Air admits error, to compensate Nigerian passenger

It seems that after having been summoned by the Nigerian Foreign Ministry, Mr. Ashraf Salama the Egyptian Ambassador to Nigeria successfully managed to vent the steam which he had previously received from Mrs. Viola Onwuliri, the Nigerian Minster of Foreign Affairs. He informed the officials of Egyptian Ministry of Civil Aviation in Cairo about the extreme seriousness of the issue of mistreating the Nigerian teenager when he was traveling on board of EgyptAir.
Well done Mrs. Viola Onwuliri!
Date: 25 September 2014 commenting on http://nigeriatell.com/news/

Class action petition sent to Aeroflot

Established and operating most of its lifespan under the Soviet umbrella, Aeroflot still lacks some skills needed for offering appropriate customer services.
Despite the fact that the flight delay was beyond the control of Aeroflot, the airline was supposed to offer its passengers a timely update about the situation as well as on-site proper compensation.
Welcome to the era of doing business the customers' way, not the providers' way.
Date: 12 August 2013 commenting on http://www.themoscowtimes.com/

Close shave for flyers on Nagpur flight

Low Cost Carriers (LCCs) normally maintain high levels of aircraft block hours and consequently, they have high levels of aircraft utilization. In fact, aircraft productivity (i.e., aircraft utilization) is a core operational issue for the business model of LCCs.
Having said so, it seems that the airport agents of Air Arabia in Nagpur have strict instructions about speedy boarding of passengers for outbound flights because they did so despite their awareness of the technical snag reported earlier at the touchdown of the very same aircraft at Nagpur Airport.
If airport gate agents will not allow the passengers to board the aircraft before getting the green-light from the cleaning crew, is it less important to board the passengers before receiving the go-ahead from the technical crew?
Will it make sense that speedy boarding of passengers is more important than the technical condition of the aircraft, and accordingly the safety of the passengers?

Date: 11 January 2011 commenting on http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/

   

Tail of Aeroflot-Don B737 strikes upon landing at Chelyabinsk

What are we expecting from Aeroflot Don which was on the verge of going bankrupt last month?
The airline needs a complete corporate cleanup. There will be no significant improvement if thy will go on with their current operational mentality.
We have to respect the seriousness of handling H1N1 flu. However, two hits at the heads of the passengers (the hard landing and the medical procedures) apparently tell us about Aeroflot Don’s idea of customer service.

Date: 27 August 2009 commenting on http://avherald.com/

Roasted in the social media

Only roasted? United Airlines has been already charred. It has become no longer edible.
With the ever-increasing role and effect of social media channels, the only way for all kinds of businesses is to go back to basics. I am quite sure that the current economic crisis is a result of forgetting the basics and switching to greedy patterns of business. Mr. Madoff, who scammed the whole world, is just an example.
United Airlines was aware of the case from the beginning as its careless employees were carefully playing all major roles of the customer service drama. United Airlines failed to assess the potential damage when the case was totally under its control before pushing the passenger to the point of no return.
Obviously, social media is recreating the rules of the game. Are we expecting to see social media channels added to the list of Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD)?

Date: 14 August 2009 commenting on http://www.aviationbusinessconsultants.com/

Egypt Air Juba flight under fire

We can safely conclude that politics should be an integral component in route planning. Considering the flammable stance between northern Khartoum and southern Juba, Juba flights with en route stop in Khartoum represent an extremely sensitive issue. Can we imagine EgyptAir operating flight to Jeddah (Saudi Arabia) with en route stop in Tel Aviv? It is entirely understood that Cairo-Tel Aviv-Jeddah example is unlikely to happen but Cairo-Khartoum-Juba version is a reality for almost 6 months. While there was no direct confrontational hostility between Saudi Arabia and Israel, there was a bloody military confrontation between Khartoum government and the southern part of Sudan.

Flights to/ and from airports which have operational restrictions, like Juba Airport, should be positioned and timed to avoid any possible service disruptions. With not-so-good on-time performance of EgyptAir, it is not a good idea to operate one-stop flights to Juba. By doing so, EgyptAir is simply increasing the contributing factors of service disruption.

The attitude of EgyptAir airport employees is not new for EgyptAir. After all, they are working in EgyptAir because of their connections, rather than their qualifications. I commented on the mediocre level of EgyptAir’s customer service last July. Ironically, the comments were about Juba flight.

Date: 11 January 2011 commenting on http://www.eturbonews.com/

Juba: Capital of an almost state

There is no way for any cabin crew to feel superior over passengers. This is against the basics of customer service. That is quite outrageous considering that Mr. Alaa Ashour, chairman of EgyptAir said when Air Transport World interviewed him back in March 2010:
Quote
Meanwhile, the carrier is moving forward with a comprehensive product upgrade throughout its fleet, including new catering and a reinforced "we care" service approach. At the end of January it commenced a vast training program for its 7,300-strong workforce, involving everybody from the call center to station managers to flight crew, about the importance of customer service.
Unquote

EgyptAir is about to extend some of its Cairo-Khartoum flights to Juba. Obviously, there are some valid commercial reasons for EgyptAir to establish its brand early in the to-be-announced country. Having said so, it might be imperative for EgyptAir to build a good image for itself in such a new market.

Date: 30 July 2010 commenting on http://www.almasryalyoum.com/en/

Up in the air

It was totally unexpected for the airlines to treat their high-yield passengers like that. Passengers of both first class and business class are simply considered the bread and butter for any airline company.
A valid question should be asked about the reason for choosing British Airways and ignoring its rival Virgin Atlantic.
I am wondering about the reason for a business leader like the article writer to prefer handling the case in such a relaxed tone. I would say that he is eligible to use more decibels in delivering a sharp message to BA management and its field representatives.

Date: 18 February 2010 commenting on http://www.forbes.com/

Passenger creates big debate at American Airlines

If you take along bulky or damageable baggage, you may have to pay an additional fee. What would be the parallel situation for passengers? The given facts are that the passenger is bulky and his part of body protruding into the aisle is highly damageable by in-flight service carts.
So, it is quite fair for that passenger to pay extra fee. He has to be charged for two seats as airlines are not selling partial seats so far.

Date: 07 December 2009 commenting on http://www.flightglobal.com/

United Breaks Guitars

It is a big mistake for the customer service representatives, who handled the case of the damaged guitar, to think that they have the final word for the cases which might affect the image of United Airlines. They were supposed to refer the case to the Public Relations Department before it is too late.

Unfortunately, airlines nowadays tend to hire untrained persons to handle the phone calls, enquires, and complaints of the passengers. Ms. Irlweg exacerbated the situation by ignoring the possibility of harming the image of United Airlines. Unknowingly, she did not think of Dave’s options. By keeping himself calm (but active) for about nine months, he deserves the current free-of-charge publicity.

The story imposes a new practice whereby the Public Relations Department should have the upper hand for all complicated issues handled by customer service representatives.

Published at http://www.planebuzz.com/

United removes website hold feature

This is somehow strange to be decided by an airline company to show its customer-friendliness. Instead of exerting some more efforts to keep their existing customers, they are doing something which might push the customers away.

Both canceling the non-ticketed booking within 24 hours, and canceling the ticketed booking within 24 hours without penalty have the SAME effect on the seat inventory but the former option is definitely more customer-friendly.

The feature of auto-cancellation due to expired time-limit has been there since almost the dawn of the automated reservation systems. That feature could be simply used without dissatisfying the customers and without negatively affecting the seat inventory of United Airlines.

Published at: http://www.bnet.com/