AIRLINES have recently been
changing their flight schedules
without notice and neglecting
to rebook passengers on sensible
connecting flights. Agents say this is
burdening them with ticket reissues
and refunds.
“This has been the worst year I have
ever seen,” says Mel Tucker, owner
of Melanie Tucker Travel. “We have to
reissue between 20 and 25 tickets
every two months.”
Gerrie de Beer, travel consultant
of Ultimate Travel, says US carriers
have been changing flight times and
numbers, necessitating ticket reissues.
“We have to do the work of a reissue
without being able to bill the expense.”
When there are schedule changes,
the airlines don’t even let agents know,
says Liz Potgieter, travel consultant of
Sure Epcot Travel.
Yumna Kharodia, md of Sweet Life
Travel, says Kenya Airways and fastjet
have made many schedule changes
lately. She says airlines have also
been rebooking clients on illogical and
inconvenient connections. For example,
there might be another option that
same day but the airline books the
client on a flight the next day.
Tracy Teichmann, manager of Sure
Adcocks Travel, says Turkish Airlines
compounds the issue as it often has
very short connection times in Istanbul.
“Customers complain that the flights,
which often run a bit late, then leave
them with even less time to make the
connection.”
Airlines have also been unable to
supply a clear recourse in the event of
a schedule change. Yumna says she
recently had a client stuck in Nairobi
due to a schedule change. When she
phoned Kenya Airways in SA about
compensation, she was told the client
should ask the Kenya Airways counter
at the airport in Nairobi. As Yumna
points out, the client then finds their
agent useless in times of trouble.
In cases where a client is forced
to book another connection with a
different airline, organising a refund
also proves a challenge. Yumna says
recently she had to wait two days
before the airline responded.
Helena Maxwell, Southern Africa and
South America area manager, Kenya
Airways, says the recent increase in
schedule changes likely has to do with
changing over from one season to the
next.
Nico Bezuidenhout, ceo of fastjet,
says the airline’s schedule changes
over the past few weeks are the
result of a fleet change and schedule
adjustment to accommodate its
Stabilisation Plan.
Turkish Airlines was unable to
respond by the time of going to print.
