Monday, April 27, 2009

April 21, 2009, Zest Air Flight 838

To the Pilot and Cabin Crew of Zest Air Flight 838,

Thank you for a very memorable journey. You guys really made the most out of our P488 fare from Cebu to Manila. Imagine, we spent almost three whole hours in what was supposed to be just a 1-hour, 15-minute flight! How's that for maximizing air travel?

Do you remember how the trip went? No? Well let me refresh your memories…

We were supposed to depart from the Mactan International Airport at 09:45 AM. Unfortunately, our plane which was coming from Manila arrived late, so we had a 45-minute delay and departed Cebu past 10:30 AM.

After 45 minutes of flying from Cebu to Manila, the Pilot announced that we couldn’t land as the runways were full. Apparently, there was already a line, and we were a far 15th on the list. Groans already fell from passengers when this was announced, but there wasn’t really anything people could do but wait.

And wait the people did. A little too calmly for my taste, if you as me. We waited until the speakers finally cracked again, and pilot announced that since we were circling the air for 30 minutes, our fuel ran low and we would have to – wait for it – GO TO CLARK TO REFUEL.

Amazing, right?

Yes, my friends and I couldn’t believe our ears with this news. By that time, the whole flight had already experienced 1.5 hours worth of delay, and we were going to go through even more. And in you even made the bad news more impactful by washing your hands clean about the runway traffic saying “it’s not your fault” and that there was an “unannounced shutdown” of the terminal which resulted in the unexpected queue in landing. Bravo! You sure know how to add insult to injury.

And did you notice that the time was 12:30 PM when this was all happening? And you didn’t even offer to serve snacks or even an extra pack of Zest-O to your passengers who were forced to skip lunch because of the lapse in your service? Masters of service you are.

Going back to the story…So transfer to Clark we did. We landed. We refueled – all the while on our respective seats, restricted from all use of electronics. Remember how you didn’t make us get off the plane which I heard was supposed to be SOP? i.e., no refueling with passengers on board.

We were able to take off from Clark and land in Manila without any further hitch. But, it turns out, the journey wasn’t over. I know, silly me, I should've anticipated the extra surprises. There was more traffic on the runway, which added another 15 minutes of taxi-ing to the old Domestic Terminal.

In the Baggage Claim area, we spent another good 20 minutes or so, as the carousel where we were told to wait was spurting out baggage that belonged to a different flight. It was quite amusing, seeing hoards of people doing the cha-cha from one carousel to the other, trying to figure out by themselves on where the heck they can possibly get their bags.

Amidst it all, I heard on the speakers a terminal attendant calling the attention of “any Zest Air representative” to help them sort out the confusion with the baggage. Hmmm. Looks like your staff was MIA in its own terminal?

Yes, it was a memorable 3 hours indeed. It was packed with anxiety, stress, frustration and confusion – classic elements of an adventure. Except that, we missed out on the good parts. Truly a refreshing experience from Asia’s most refreshing airline.

I do not wish anyone else to go through this hassle, so I hope you will remember this experience and avoid from it happening again. If some delays or other “unannounced” occurrences are beyond your control, then please do something about what is within your control: That is, treating your passengers well.

Apologize. Don’t put the blame unto others (or at least, save yourselves from getting into that defensive position.) Inform passengers of what caused the delay. Keep them updated on what will happen next and how long these things will take. And for crying out loud, address the grumbling stomachs! This is not even going the extra mile. Doing something more than saying “sorry” is the bare minimum for being in a service industry.

Yours truly,
Ina