When an airline company's staff became law-enforcers!
17 April 2018, 8.00 a.m., Sahar Airport, Mumbai, India! I entered the airport and headed to the Ethiopian Airlines counter. [I was scheduled to fly at 11.05 a.m. IST by Ethiopian Airlines flight number ET 641 to Johannesburg; my ticket confirmation number was RXBZVY.] I stood in the queue.
At 8.30 a.m., the booking clerk at the desk called, "Next." I moved forward to finish the check-in formalities. He looked at my passport and my tickets, and said, "You can't board our flight." "What?" I exclaimed. He repeated, "You can't board our flight." I was appalled and asked, "Why?" He replied, "You don't have a valid return ticket." "Come on, are you kidding me?" I politely retorted. He was thoroughly impolite and said, "You've a Kenya Airways return ticket. I can't find the confirmation of your return ticket. I therefore can't issue you a boarding pass."
"What should I do?" I asked. "I dunno," he sternly replied and went on to say, "Please let the next passenger to come. Next!" I was flabbergasted and stood there in disbelief. The booking clerk firmly asked me, "Move aside, please; I need to attend the next passenger." "But, how am I going to handle the situation?" I inquired. He said, "You go and sort it out at the airport information desk. Next PLEASE!" I asked, "Err, where's the info desk." The booking clerk was nasty this time, shook his head in anger, and indicated me to go away. I was forced out of the counter, well almost, literally. It was as if the Ethiopian Airlines staffs were doing me a favor by denying me a legitimate boarding pass.
I went off the Ethiopian Airlines counter desk. A couple of teardrops rolled over my cheeks. (I couldn't help it; my trip to South Africa was important.)
It was 9.15 a.m. I regained my composure and rushed toward an airport security personnel in sight and asked, "Sir, would you mind to tell me where's the airport information desk?" He pointed his finger at a desk and politely said, "Please go that way, Sir. Up there is the information desk." I ran toward the desk indicated by him. As soon I reached there, I narrated all the ordeal that I had experienced until then to the lady on the opposite side of the desk. She said, "Please give me the print-out of your return ticket. I need to verify your PNR number with the Kenya Airways." I handed it to her.
After going through the ticket, she tried to call the Kenya Airways airport office. It seems no one took her call. Then, she flipped the pages in a directory, stopped at a page, and blurted, "Oh my God! Kenya Airways guys would only come only at 2 p.m. in the afternoon." "What could I do?" she looked at me and muttered to herself. Then, she dialed a few numbers and finally got hold of someone, "Yes... I need the emergency number of Kenya Airways... Yes... Hold a sec..." She scribbled something on a paper. "Thank you!" she said and hung up.
It was 9.30 a.m. While she was dialing another number, I helplessly looked at her and thought, "Despite having a valid return ticket for which I've paid, I can't get a boarding pass!"
"Hello, is it Kenya Airways... Well, I've a passenger with me named Mr. Siddharth Mohapatra, with the e-ticket number: 7065104818688 and the Galileo reservation number: XZ1FF6, flying from Joberg to Mumbai via Nairobi on the 2nd May 2018 by Kenya Airways flight number KQ 765... [my return ticket details] Well, I wish to know if it is a confirmed ticket... What?... OK, OK... Thank you!" She told me with a smile, "Sir, please tell the Ethiopian Airlines guys that your return ticket is confirmed." "Thank you!" I said and frantically headed toward the Ethiopian Airlines counter.
It was almost quarter to 10 a.m. and there was barely 1 hour left to embark the Ethiopian Airlines flight number: ET 641 to Johannesburg. After waiting in the queue for 10 more minutes, my turn eventually came. I hurriedly went to the counter. "I got the confirmation from the Kenya Airways emergency room that my return ticket is valid. Please issue me a boarding pass, now," I pleaded with the same counter booking clerk whom I had interacted before. After listening to me in a casual manner, he told, "Your case is complicated. My manager need to intervene." He waived at someone. I was still waiting.
After 5 minutes, the someone (the manager) came to that desk. They spoke in a hushed tone. Then, the manager keyed in something into the computer, looked at the computer and me and back to the computer screen.
After giving me some more anxious moments, he raised his head, smiled disapprovingly, and sarcastically said, "I can't see that you have a valid return ticket, Sir. I inserted your return ticket details but I can't find anything. What can I do for you? What?" I looked at him with disbelief.
Then, he moved away from the computer and said in an authoritarian voice, "Well, why didn't you book an Ethiopian Airlines return ticket?" Before I could say something, he said in a caustic voice, "You got a cheaper Kenya Airways return ticket, right?" I said, "No." But he never bothered to listen and continued, "Like you, I would have also done the same. I would have chosen the cheaper option too. But, you know what? You need to buy a return ticket by the same airline." He kept on naming and shaming me. Finally, I interrupted him.
I rebutted him strongly and said, "Look Sir, it's not that I found out a cheaper ticket. Rather, I booked a Kenya Airways return ticket because of the layover time. On the 2nd May 2018, the layover time for Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa was shown to be nine hours but 2 hours in Nairobi for the Kenya Airways flight. So, I bought Kenya Airways return ticket to save the layover time." He looked at me mischievously and said, "You know! I won't issue a boarding pass because many illegal immigrants from India are going to South Africa. In case they get deported on their arrival, we need to bring them back by our next flight. Hence, we are very particular that an Ethiopian Airlines return ticket must be booked." By then, I was really really agitated.
I said, "This time, I'll speak for one final time. If you won't issue me a boarding pass, I'll leave the airport immediately thereafter. Now, listen to me. OK?" I continued, "Look, the South African Consulate has already issued me a visa on the basis of a valid return ticket. If they didn't have any objection about the Kenya Airways, why do you have? Do you think they don't know the deportation intricacies? And why are you saying that I'd be deported? What do you know about me? Are you here to issue us boarding passes, or policing us?"
It was already 10.20 a.m.. My flight to Joberg was scheduled at 11.05 a.m. He finally issued me a boarding pass, but at a cost? That is, inflicting a great degree of mental trauma!
Here come some questions. 1. Must an international flyer book a return ticket by the same airline? 2. If yes, why don't the visa officers in consulates/embassies insist on the same? 3. Who will pay to compensate the mental trauma that passengers like me go through? 4. Is the ordeal that I went through in sync with Ethiopian Airlines' slogan, "The New Spirit of Africa?"
I sincerely hope this new spirit of Africa that I experienced in the hands of the Ethiopian Airlines staff on 17 April 2018 doesn't become the new spirit of the MNCs, i.e., delighting the managers by dejecting the customer!
17 April 2018, 8.00 a.m., Sahar Airport, Mumbai, India! I entered the airport and headed to the Ethiopian Airlines counter. [I was scheduled to fly at 11.05 a.m. IST by Ethiopian Airlines flight number ET 641 to Johannesburg; my ticket confirmation number was RXBZVY.] I stood in the queue.
At 8.30 a.m., the booking clerk at the desk called, "Next." I moved forward to finish the check-in formalities. He looked at my passport and my tickets, and said, "You can't board our flight." "What?" I exclaimed. He repeated, "You can't board our flight." I was appalled and asked, "Why?" He replied, "You don't have a valid return ticket." "Come on, are you kidding me?" I politely retorted. He was thoroughly impolite and said, "You've a Kenya Airways return ticket. I can't find the confirmation of your return ticket. I therefore can't issue you a boarding pass."
"What should I do?" I asked. "I dunno," he sternly replied and went on to say, "Please let the next passenger to come. Next!" I was flabbergasted and stood there in disbelief. The booking clerk firmly asked me, "Move aside, please; I need to attend the next passenger." "But, how am I going to handle the situation?" I inquired. He said, "You go and sort it out at the airport information desk. Next PLEASE!" I asked, "Err, where's the info desk." The booking clerk was nasty this time, shook his head in anger, and indicated me to go away. I was forced out of the counter, well almost, literally. It was as if the Ethiopian Airlines staffs were doing me a favor by denying me a legitimate boarding pass.
I went off the Ethiopian Airlines counter desk. A couple of teardrops rolled over my cheeks. (I couldn't help it; my trip to South Africa was important.)
It was 9.15 a.m. I regained my composure and rushed toward an airport security personnel in sight and asked, "Sir, would you mind to tell me where's the airport information desk?" He pointed his finger at a desk and politely said, "Please go that way, Sir. Up there is the information desk." I ran toward the desk indicated by him. As soon I reached there, I narrated all the ordeal that I had experienced until then to the lady on the opposite side of the desk. She said, "Please give me the print-out of your return ticket. I need to verify your PNR number with the Kenya Airways." I handed it to her.
After going through the ticket, she tried to call the Kenya Airways airport office. It seems no one took her call. Then, she flipped the pages in a directory, stopped at a page, and blurted, "Oh my God! Kenya Airways guys would only come only at 2 p.m. in the afternoon." "What could I do?" she looked at me and muttered to herself. Then, she dialed a few numbers and finally got hold of someone, "Yes... I need the emergency number of Kenya Airways... Yes... Hold a sec..." She scribbled something on a paper. "Thank you!" she said and hung up.
It was 9.30 a.m. While she was dialing another number, I helplessly looked at her and thought, "Despite having a valid return ticket for which I've paid, I can't get a boarding pass!"
"Hello, is it Kenya Airways... Well, I've a passenger with me named Mr. Siddharth Mohapatra, with the e-ticket number: 7065104818688 and the Galileo reservation number: XZ1FF6, flying from Joberg to Mumbai via Nairobi on the 2nd May 2018 by Kenya Airways flight number KQ 765... [my return ticket details] Well, I wish to know if it is a confirmed ticket... What?... OK, OK... Thank you!" She told me with a smile, "Sir, please tell the Ethiopian Airlines guys that your return ticket is confirmed." "Thank you!" I said and frantically headed toward the Ethiopian Airlines counter.
It was almost quarter to 10 a.m. and there was barely 1 hour left to embark the Ethiopian Airlines flight number: ET 641 to Johannesburg. After waiting in the queue for 10 more minutes, my turn eventually came. I hurriedly went to the counter. "I got the confirmation from the Kenya Airways emergency room that my return ticket is valid. Please issue me a boarding pass, now," I pleaded with the same counter booking clerk whom I had interacted before. After listening to me in a casual manner, he told, "Your case is complicated. My manager need to intervene." He waived at someone. I was still waiting.
After 5 minutes, the someone (the manager) came to that desk. They spoke in a hushed tone. Then, the manager keyed in something into the computer, looked at the computer and me and back to the computer screen.
After giving me some more anxious moments, he raised his head, smiled disapprovingly, and sarcastically said, "I can't see that you have a valid return ticket, Sir. I inserted your return ticket details but I can't find anything. What can I do for you? What?" I looked at him with disbelief.
Then, he moved away from the computer and said in an authoritarian voice, "Well, why didn't you book an Ethiopian Airlines return ticket?" Before I could say something, he said in a caustic voice, "You got a cheaper Kenya Airways return ticket, right?" I said, "No." But he never bothered to listen and continued, "Like you, I would have also done the same. I would have chosen the cheaper option too. But, you know what? You need to buy a return ticket by the same airline." He kept on naming and shaming me. Finally, I interrupted him.
I rebutted him strongly and said, "Look Sir, it's not that I found out a cheaper ticket. Rather, I booked a Kenya Airways return ticket because of the layover time. On the 2nd May 2018, the layover time for Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa was shown to be nine hours but 2 hours in Nairobi for the Kenya Airways flight. So, I bought Kenya Airways return ticket to save the layover time." He looked at me mischievously and said, "You know! I won't issue a boarding pass because many illegal immigrants from India are going to South Africa. In case they get deported on their arrival, we need to bring them back by our next flight. Hence, we are very particular that an Ethiopian Airlines return ticket must be booked." By then, I was really really agitated.
I said, "This time, I'll speak for one final time. If you won't issue me a boarding pass, I'll leave the airport immediately thereafter. Now, listen to me. OK?" I continued, "Look, the South African Consulate has already issued me a visa on the basis of a valid return ticket. If they didn't have any objection about the Kenya Airways, why do you have? Do you think they don't know the deportation intricacies? And why are you saying that I'd be deported? What do you know about me? Are you here to issue us boarding passes, or policing us?"
It was already 10.20 a.m.. My flight to Joberg was scheduled at 11.05 a.m. He finally issued me a boarding pass, but at a cost? That is, inflicting a great degree of mental trauma!
Here come some questions. 1. Must an international flyer book a return ticket by the same airline? 2. If yes, why don't the visa officers in consulates/embassies insist on the same? 3. Who will pay to compensate the mental trauma that passengers like me go through? 4. Is the ordeal that I went through in sync with Ethiopian Airlines' slogan, "The New Spirit of Africa?"
I sincerely hope this new spirit of Africa that I experienced in the hands of the Ethiopian Airlines staff on 17 April 2018 doesn't become the new spirit of the MNCs, i.e., delighting the managers by dejecting the customer!
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