Fliers taken for a ride?

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Fliers in Malaysia are treated like flies. They are taken for granted, akin to how flies are viewed in the wet market—an accepted but necessary annoyance. Since the emergence of low-cost carriers and the widespread use of the internet for bookings, travelling has never been easier. 

Once the enticement concludes with super saver offers and the fabricated excitement that seats are selling out quickly, and once the transactions are finalised, the ball will be in the airlines' court. They have the freedom to postpone, cancel, and reschedule any trip to meet their business requirements, ensuring maximum returns. Multiple flights can be consolidated into a single journey if there are few passengers on a specific route. They do not owe their customers any explanation. In fact, contacting them is made nearly impossible. If customers persist, they can be redirected to chatbots, but only after verifying that the customers are indeed human. Humans must also pass the Turing test. The irony is that now machines are confirming humans to be humans!

Airlines may conceal behind the pretext of technical reasons, which can vary from a pilot failing to arrive for duty to a missing jet engine. 

It was a long weekend filled with wedding invitations, one or two at a time, back to back. Amidst this, a dear friend succumbed to a heart attack, making the weekend resemble a scene from 'Four Weddings and A Funeral', though with less masala.

I had booked a flight to Johor Bahru for 2:40 pm on a Friday. I thought there would be just enough time to finish off work and rush to the airport.

 

A few days before the flight, an email arrived informing me that the flight would be delayed by an hour, to 3:40 pm. This was fine, as the wedding was scheduled to start at 7 pm. It provided ample time to settle in and join the merriment. 

Once again, a day before the journey, there is another announcement. The plane now takes off an hour later, at 4:35 pm. How convenient. Of course, they offered a refund if the change was unacceptable, but one can only imagine the inconveniences and extra costs incurred if a new order is placed relatively close to the departure date. The airline can obscure their responsibilities under the often unread contract that customers must agree to before purchasing their tickets - it is the prerogative of the airline to delay, postpone, or even cancel the flight. 

Anyway, I made the trip in time for the function.

 

My return flight was scheduled for the following morning, the first one out at 6:30 am. If leaving early and rushing to the airport at an unearthly hour to arrive before the stipulated time was not enough, imagine how frustrating it is when the flight is delayed. Why was there a delay when the airport was clear, the weather was fine, and the plane was just starting its journey for the day? It's anybody's guess—no announcement and, obviously, no apologies. 

The reason people prefer air travel over driving in Malaysia, which boasts an extensive highway network admired globally, is the convenience it offers. The unpredictability of traffic conditions makes driving burdensome, especially for short trips. Although the travel time is comparable in both scenarios, the freshness factor becomes a significant consideration. The time needed to reach the airport, check in two hours before departure, and wait will be similar if one were to drive to the equivalent destination on the west coast of Peninsula Malaysia.

 

It appears that Malaysians are being taken for fools. They find themselves at the mercy of these operators, be they local budget carriers or regular airlines. There may be a need for assertive customers with a mob mentality, rather than the compliant, submissive ones they typically encounter here.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

Customers from hell?

George Bilainkin, the multi-lingual Polish-Jewish editor the Strait Echo of Penang in the early 1930s made some astute observations on board his ship from England to the port of Penang. He noted the peculiar the way people behave at the first class six course dinner. The very people who had never been served a sumptuous meal back home are the very people who had so much complains about the service and the food!

Very much around us!

Now how often we have seen this...

Just the other day, whilst deeply engaged in my meal with family at a cosy upmarket eatery, I had the pleasure of a family joining an adjacent table. Apparently they had arrived later than the pre-arranged time. No, there were not happy with the sitting arrangements. After much bargaining, they settled in amidst much pomp and pandemonium. No, they brought their own cake and they could not be paying extra charges for serving as the primary aim of their visit was to celebrate a family member's special day. "Okay, okay, we will waive that,"said the captain. "Happy birthday!"

After much commotion, the main course was ordered. Of course, they had special requests on their orders. They wanted this in and that out, this done that way and that done that way. Somehow, the ordering got out of the way after much hullabaloo. And their conversation got louder. Wait, were they arguing?

Then a few hand raising at the waiter for their meals to be delivered quick. The way they pissed off the staff with their behaviour, I wonder what special additives were added to their dish to get back at them. In between of their gobbling of the chow, a few requests for sauces and seasonings. And again.

The excitement of the day must have ended with the haggling of the bill. "No, we did not order this and that. I cannot pay for that. Not fair!"

Their departure must have been a sigh of relief for the men and women of the working class variety at that restaurant. They had had enough excitement for a night. What they cannot understand is why somethings are never enough for some people. They console themselves by telling themselves that variety is the spice of life. You win some and lose some. Were they scared of being fleeced just like how they did to others as they tried to scale life? Or was the world so unforgiving that they saw conmen at every corner and it was payback time? Or just simply that they wanted to announce to the world that they have arrived and they did it their way, just like Frankie did? The nouve rich. And a small fraction of them can be a nagging pain in the you know where, neck!