Garuda's new era service<\/p>\n
Garuda must be the only airline in the world that could shut
\nthe doors of an airplane while my daughter (three-and-a-half
\nyears old), my husband and myself were exactly five steps away
\nfrom the plane, and another five steps away from our seats. A
\nground official, standing on the airbridge, put his arm out to
\nstop us while we watched in amazement as two flight attendants
\nclosed the airplane door. Then GA 831 backed up and was out of
\nthe gate ahead of schedule.<\/p>\n
If the plane's captain, Wayono, was thinking on behalf of his
\npassengers, and was committed to service excellence, he would
\nhave waited another 10 seconds for us.<\/p>\n
Departure was scheduled for 6:25 p.m. on Sunday, July 9, from
\nSingapore to Jakarta. On this day, captain Wayono must have been
\nin a hurry for personal reasons, and decided to depart 10 minutes
\nahead of schedule, at 6:15 p.m. We had been sitting in the first
\nclass lounge since 5 p.m., and no one informed us of the earlier
\ndeparture time.<\/p>\n
We checked in at 4:30 p.m., with luggage, and were allocated
\nseats 2A, 2B and 2E. At 6 p.m., a boarding call was made. We
\ninstantly proceeded to gate D47. While in front of gate D44, our
\nnames were announced over a speaker. It was very strange. We
\nstarted to walk faster. Then, in front of gate D45, A Garuda
\nofficial asked us \"Are you the family being announced?\" I said
\n\"yes\". The official spoke into his walkie talkie: \"They're on
\ntheir way, they're on their way, two more gates to go. While
\nrunning, another official came up to us and said \"Ma'am, sorry,
\nthe captain would like to depart early, if he misses the
\ndeparture time, he cannot take off. I had no idea what he was
\ntalking about, nor did I pay much attention to him, as by this
\ntime we had arrived at gate D47. We went through the x-ray
\nmachine, showed our boarding passes and proceeded down an
\nairbridge toward the plane.<\/p>\n
We were about five steps away from the plane when a member of
\nthe ground crew, stationed on the airbridge, put his arm out in
\nfront of us and said \"Sorry, the captain couldn't wait\".<\/p>\n
The airplane door shut in front of our eyes, leaving us
\nstanding and staring at the crew.<\/p>\n
My husband then quickly ran back up the ramp to the crew and
\npointed at his watch, saying it was only 6:15 p.m. The crew just
\nshrugged their shoulders and said \"The captain has made the
\ndecision to depart\".<\/p>\n
The official said \"Here's a dinner voucher. The next flight is
\nthree-and-a-half hours from now, and you are on standby as the
\nflight is full\".<\/p>\n
At 9:20 p.m., my husband checked the transfer counter for any
\navailable flights. Luckily, we were on Garuda's 9:40 p.m. flight,
\nand, of course, downgraded. I was given seat 1K, and my husband
\nand daughter 61J and 61K.<\/p>\n
There is a regulation that a plane cannot take off if there is
\nunaccompanied baggage. The captain broke that regulation, and at
\nthe same time broke the integrity of Garuda.<\/p>\n
This incident was a total nightmare and Garuda put my daughter
\nthrough a traumatic experience. She is now afraid of flying. She
\nis afraid that the plane will leave her behind and she will not
\nbe able to get home.<\/p>\n
MS. V.V. RAMADHAN<\/p>\n
Jakarta<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/garudas-new-era-service-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }