Ansett, MAS flight nightmare<\/p>\n
Over the Lebaran period, my wife and I went to Penang to visit
\nmy father's grave; he was the Judge there, and died in 1933. The
\njourney there was reasonable. We flew with Ansett Australian
\nAirlines to Kuala Lumpur and then to Penang with MAS (Malaysian
\nAirlines). But the return journey was a nightmare.<\/p>\n
Our flight from Penang was 2 hours and 15 minutes late because
\nof problems with the aircraft and the need to round up a new crew
\nto fly the replacement aircraft which was a different type.<\/p>\n
Therefore we missed our connection with Ansett by a matter of
\nminutes. A telex had supposedly been sent to Ansett to hold the
\nflight, but it was no use. The Ansett staff at Kuala Lumpur were
\narrogant and totally unhelpful. \"We don't delay our departures
\nfor late arrivals by other carriers,\" they sneered.<\/p>\n
Then phase two of the saga unfolded. A senior MAS official
\ncame and apologized (marks for this) and gave us hotel and meal
\nvouchers to stay overnight and to depart next day with MH711 at
\n10:40 a.m. He kindly checked us in and gave us our boarding
\npasses, and promised that our baggage (one suitcase) would be on
\nflight MH711 the next day. After faxing my office, calling home
\nand a not very nice dinner, I went to bed.<\/p>\n
The next morning we telephoned to tell our driver when to meet
\nus (he had spent hours at the airport the previous night because
\nthe message we asked MAS to broadcast\/announce for him to go home
\nwas never made) we checked out and went to Terminal I to catch
\nMH711 (boarding 10:15 a.m., departure 10:40). After a few minutes
\ncame announcement No. 1: \"Sorry, MH711 is delayed by one hour.\"
\nToo bad; sit back and read a newspaper. Later, announcement No.
\n2: \"Sorry, MH711 to be postponed until 12:50 p.m.\" At that point,
\nwe were issued with refreshment vouchers. I went to inspect the
\nrefreshment counter, but it was, like Mother Hubbard's cupboard,
\nbare. As I went back to tell my wife the sad news, and to
\ncomplain to MAS, came announcement No. 3: \"MH711 is now boarding
\nat gate 13 for departure at 11:50.\" So I leapt onto my
\nwheelchair, and after three or four minutes, my \"pusher\" realized
\nshe was pushing in the wrong direction but a swift about turn got
\nus to gate 13 on time.<\/p>\n
On arrival at Sukarno-Hatta we went to claim our baggage. But
\nit was not there. So we had long dialogue with the \"Lost
\nProperty\" office, while our poor driver continued to wait.<\/p>\n
At home at 8 p.m. we finally got a call from Ansett to say
\nthey had our bag. So how come the MAS supervisor promised to put
\nit on MH711? And how come Ansett takes a passenger's luggage but
\ndoesn't wait for the passenger? I was naturally nervous about the
\nfate of our suitcase because a few years ago we went to the UK
\nwith MAS. Once again, we were obliged to stop over in Kuala
\nLumpur, and on arrival at London Heathrow, there was no baggage.
\nEventually, one bag was discovered, having been misrouted to
\nFrankfurt; the other was never found, and it was only after
\nendless argument that I got adequate compensation from MAS.<\/p>\n
R.B. SAWREY-COOKSON<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/ansett-mas-flight-nightmare-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }