Expert Passengers

[The Real Slim Shady]

Being an "expert in aviation" - perhaps that could be a new degree course at Cranfield - doesn't necessarily qualify you as an expert in customer service.

Let's be frank, you can have the best written business plan ( dreamsheet / bullsh*t / valid until tomorrow) in the business, but if you don't listen to the expert passengers, you are - or one is - wasting one's time.

So..........as the expert passengers.....what is important to you...and why does no -one listen?

What makes the difference between BA and bmi? Emirates and Etihad?

[PAXboy]

A good question Slim. After nearly writing out a dozen points, I think that it might be summed up in one word: Predictable. I like to know that when I choose a carrier, the experience - from booking to getting home again - will be the same as it was before. Even if that is a low expectation from a particular carrier, I want to know what I am getting in advance.

[CVTDog]

:ok: As per previous thread by PAXBOY. Meeting or exeeding expectations is all I really want.

I flew LHR to NRT with BA in business. Got upstairs in the pod on a 744 and the flight was a dream. The best way to spend 11 odd hours on a plane. The service was impeccible and the flight was on time. And the rtn ticket was about £4000

Flew BHX to ALC last week with FlyBe. Used QBuster. Printed my boarding card at home. Took my carry on straight upstairs (all I had) greeted by the gate being opened to board and was in ALC 2 1/2 hrs later. Flight on time. Rtn ticket about £130

Bottom line is that my drive is now good value and the carrier delivering its PROMISE.

It used to be that I felt LUCKY if I took off and arrived on time, PAX deserve to treated with equal respect, regardless of the cost of their ticket.

I don't mind what the cost of the ticket is (within reason of course) I just want it to be representative of the service I recieve.

[PaperTiger]

1. When there's a delay, don't lie to me.
Tell me what's up, what's being done and how long it's likely going to take. If you don't know, so say - none of this "another 30 minutes" cr@p :mad:
2. Anent making things up, don't use "security concerns" as an excuse for your c0ckups or to get passengers to conform to your preferences.
3. Accurate arrival/departure displays please. How hard can that be ?

[Middle Seat]

1. If you have information that my luggage is was not on the flight, please don't make me wait at the belt for something that isn't going to arrive. Make an announcement. Page me and tell me. I'll be a lot more happier than if I approach an agent who says "oh yes, you're on our list."

2. Don't lie.

3. Keep information on the monitors and at the gates up to date.

4. In the US - make it known at all the airports you serve, that you advocate shutting down the CNN airport network. There's already too much noise in the terminal, and the 30 minute loop of news is annoying.


...ok, I know you can't do much about #4.

[BRUpax]

Consistency, at least with the same carrier. Too many examples of inconsistencies with check-in staff (can be different handling agents I know, but still, for me, the carriers responsibility to ensure that they work consistently in accordance with clearly defined procedures), and cabin crew. The same goes with airport security staff, but that's another story.

[redsnail]

I fly a lot courtesy of work and they're the ones that book the tickets and so on.

I would like to know in advance (somehow) if an airline serves or charges for food. easyJet and Ryanair, simple, I know they do. But bmi? Is that a loco or not? They charge for food... If I am going to have to pay, then I'd rather buy what I want in the terminal.

I agree with the above comments. Although with respect to a delay, if it's a technical one, it can be either a quick fix or not. It's difficult to get that info through to the terminal in a timely manner that makes sense AND is the truth.

[Cyrano]

Consistency, at least with the same carrier.
Amen to that (and to similar sentiment from PAXboy).
In statistical terms I think of it as mean and standard deviation. Ryanair's 'mean' is low (and they're mean :hmm: ) but they are fairly consistent (except when they don't apply their own boarding procedures :ugh: ). Someone like e.g. Air France or BA has a much higher 'mean' (i.e. a much higher level of service) but I've found a high level of variability (usually at the level of the crew, ranging from very friendly and helpful and really making the flight pleasant, through to grumpy and doing the minimum).
4. In the US - make it known at all the airports you serve, that you advocate shutting down the CNN airport network. ...ok, I know you can't do much about #4.
I feel your pain, believe me I do. Do a web search for "tv b gone" - great little keyfob gadget which works as a remote control to turn off almost any TV. Well worth it.

[Curious Pax]

Although with respect to a delay, if it's a technical one, it can be either a quick fix or not. It's difficult to get that info through to the terminal in a timely manner that makes sense AND is the truth.

Had a delay on a bmi flight out of Amsterdam last week. The (subcontracted) ground staff didn't start very well, as it got to scheduled time of departure before they announced to us all in the gate area that there was a technical delay, but no details as yet - more in 15 minutes. I had seen the engineer roll up about 20 minutes earlier, and every so often chuck some water out of the forward catering door, so I'd suspected a problem, but not everyone will have spotted that.

However after that they gave us an update every 15 minutes, including the nature of the beast (galley water leak - hence the flying water), we finally boarded after 45 minutes, and left an hour late. Ground staff apologised, flight crew apologised, as far as I could see all pax accepted it with good grace.

So from my point of view apart from the initial delay in telling us of a problem, it was dealt with well. We even made up half the delay on the flight to LHR (no holding at 0900 came as a bit of a surprise!) but then it went pear shaped on the ground. Not the crew's fault as far as we could see (and were told), but that was another story!

[high-hopes]

1. When there's a delay, don't lie to me.
Tell me what's up, what's being done and how long it's likely going to take. If you don't know, so say - none of this "another 30 minutes" cr@p :mad:
2. Anent making things up, don't use "security concerns" as an excuse for your c0ckups or to get passengers to conform to your preferences.
3. Accurate arrival/departure displays please. How hard can that be ?

The vast majority of British airlines subcontract their ground staff at most airports. The person who loads the baggage on your BA flight, the easyjet check in agent, the ryanair dispatcher... Chances are they are NOT BA, easyjet or ryanair employees.

They usually are underpaid temporary staff from the ground handling agencies (swissport, servisair, aviance and so forth) who happen to work at airports and around aircraft, but they are the equivalent of Tesco or Asda staff (no disrespect meant to those jobs).

- in case of technical issues, the engineers won't give you an estimate until they are 100% sure of how long it's gonna take. A minor fault could reveal something bigger and your 15 minutes delay easily develop to a couple of hours

- crewing / staff delays (crew out of hours, unavailable or positioning) are dealt by the airline and only once the crisis is solved they will inform the handling agent, who will then inform the passengers

- en route / inbound delays (obviously) happen hundreds of miles away from the airport where you're waiting, and communications between ground stations are not always efficient, especially when the same handling agent is dealing with different airlines at the same time. Remember your swissport / servisair staff is probably dealing with many delays of different airlines at different airports at the same time.
Sometimes delay estimates are very accurate (they are updated by ATC as soon as the aircraft is airborne) ; some other times you plane is sitting somewhere at a foreign airport and nobody has a clue of how long it will take.

I used to be a pax agent / dispatcher at a busy UK airport. We didn't tell lies. Simply we didn't have enough imformation to pass on. You don't wanna pass rumours on, because if they prove untrue, the passengers will come back to you. As soon as we knew, we would do our best to let everybody know.

I am not trying to justify the sometimes poor handling of delays / diruptions, but I am afraid there is little that can be done. As I said, airport staff are often temporary, with little training, on the same wage of a Tesco checkout operator, and on terrible shift rostering. This is a cost-cutting business and the results, as usual, hit the final customer.
Having worked in the business, I must say that for the amount of flights arriving and departing at any given time around the country, things actually run quite smoothly. Don't forget that your 1 hour business flight that arrives on time is only one of at least 8 daily journeys operated by the very same aircraft ! Even one small disruption can have consequences to the entire schedule.

h-h

[SteveSmith]

I just want to be treated like an intelligent human being, not like cattle.

That means that I want to check in online, drop my baggage off quickly if I have any, get through security quickly (I know that isn't down to the airlines), then have a pleasant, quiet, comfortable place to wait for boarding.

While I'm waiting, I want accurate, up to date information, and as others have said, saying "I don't know" is a lot better than saying nothing at all. Once the flight is boarding, I want to be called to the gate (NOT before), and be able to get straight onto the plane and into my seat, without having to get on a bus first. Incidentally, I want to choose that seat in advance, not have to join in a scrum with 149 other people to get one that I like.

I know it's my responsibility to be at the gate on time, and I'll accept the blame entirely if I'm not, but it really annoys me when airlines (especially Easyjet) call you to the gate 15 mins before they actually start boarding, and cram 150 people into a space designed for 50, so that they can get a quick boarding to suit their schedule. It's particularly cattle-like at BRS in the mornings, where they actually line you up in little pens depending on what boarding group you're in. I keep expecting to see a trough and a milking machine!

Once on the plane, unless you're bringing me free food and drink, then leave me alone. I don't want to buy your overpriced coffee, I don't want a model plane, a cuddly toy, Jordan's latest perfume, or to make a donation to this week's charity. I've paid to be transported, not to be advertised at.

If that makes me sound like a miserable git, well when I have to get up at 4:30am to catch a flight, I am a miserable git, and I'm the miserable git who's paying for the experience.:)

Steve.

[Cyrano]

it really annoys me when airlines (especially Easyjet) call you to the gate 15 mins before they actually start boarding, and cram 150 people into a space designed for 50, so that they can get a quick boarding to suit their schedule
Ryanair's equivalent: online-checkin boarding passes with a "Gate Closes" time set at departure time minus 30 minutes, when the aircraft isn't scheduled to land until departure-time-minus-25.

[Bangkokeasy]

From a technical point of view, I would like to see some attention paid to the check in procedures. Why does it mostly take the same amount of time to check in one SLF now than it did 10-20 years ago? I am not talking about the amount of time arguing with the Brown family about who should sit together, or calling for more DIY machines, but apart from that, the process involves the same amount of manual keying in that it was all those years ago.