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This is the story of my last flight of 2012. It shows how one airline (who shall remain nameless) managed to turn a small, manageable problem into a very large problem. Small problems cost a little bit of money to solve, big problems cost a lot of money to solve.
My last assignment in 2012 was in Ankara, Turkey. I had to fly from Ankara the afternoon of the 21st of December to Istanbul, and then connect to a on another airline to Dubai. I had a long layover in Dubai (key information) before getting my final flight from Dubai to Melbourne. My ground time in Istanbul was short (2 hours) but it was manageable. I found Istanbul Airport to be easy to get around, and felt confident it would not be an issue.
My flight departing Ankara was delayed 1 hour due to weather. This meant I missed my connection in Istanbul.
I went to the Airline that I flew from Ankara looking for a solution.
+ The easy solution was to put me on the last flight from Istanbul to Dubai – there was time and as it turned out, available seats. I would land in Dubai with plenty of time to make my connection to Melbourne.
+ The difficult solution (which is what they chose) was to give me bad service. They did not tell me in a timely manner how to get me on that last flight to Dubai. They instead decided to make me wait, put me up in a hotel (extra expense) and get me on a longer flight (from Istanbul to Melbourne via London and Singapore). They were kind enough to get me upgraded on the London-Melbourne leg, but that was also extra expense.
How could this problem have been resolved? Very simply.
+ What I was told: “go see the supervisor over there”. The phrase “there” was accompanied by pointing in the general direction of a coffee shop and a mob of other travellers.
+ What I should have been told: “please see the supervisor, who is permanently seated at check-in counter B-15”.
This simple piece of information, delivered by one employee, would have saved me a day of my life, and would have saved the airline in question some money. Instead, withholding this information caused the problem to grow from small to significant.
I am awaiting a response from the airline in question on how they handled this situation.