Bad service and attitude from FlySafair staff

Dear FlySafair

I would like to register my grievance with the manner with which your staff at OR Tambo International Airport ill-treated me and my young brother- and sister-in-law on Thursday, November 23, 2017.

I had accompanied Ahlangene, 14, and Anelisiwe, 6, to the airport for their morning flight to East London, when we were told they could not board the flight. This despite the fact that their air tickets had been booked online a while ago by their uncle, Mr Ndumiso Nqiwa, who I have copied on this email.

One of your staff members at the FlySafair check-in counter told us at about 6.10am the siblings could not travel together, arguing that they were minors.

It is sad that we were treated with disdain and told to go to the “ticket sales counter” when we wanted more clarity on this issue of them being minors. I had made it clear to your staff that Mr Nqiwa, their uncle, would be on hand to receive them the moment the flight touches down at the East London International Airport. Your staff at the “ticket sales counter” would not be drawn on helping us with clarity and answer further questions from us, saying in no uncertain terms that she would not be explaining herself again to us. Her attitude and tone were condescending to say the least.

As if that were not enough, from the “ticket sales counter”, we were referred to the “flight controller desk”, as the clock ticked away. The flight controller referred us back to the “tickets sales counter”, where again our pleas for more clarity on the issue fell on deaf ears.

With a silly smirk on her face, one of the ladies at the counter, said they would not allow the siblings to travel together, and when I tried to interject in a conversation she was having with her colleague on the matter, she turned, looked me in the eye and rudely said, “I’m not talking to you!”.

It is at this stage that the siblings, who were looking forward to the experience of flying for the first time, started to cry. We were being sent from pillar to post without getting any information or wayforward from your staff.

I soon recognised a fami**** person who was also going to East London on the same flight. She responded positively to my request that she offer guardianship to Anelisiwe, 6, during the 60 minute or so flight to East London.

Alas, this progressive step in ensuring that the siblings do not miss their flight, was frustrated by your flight controller who had pleasure in saying this would be against the law, with no respect for backing up his claim.

Interestingly, the person who had agreed to travel with the siblings seemed to show more empathy than your staff who are supposedly trained to deal with such situations. Your staff came across came across as arrogant, brash and as though they were deriving pleasure from this whole ordeal.

This is what tempted me to make this a racial issue and venture to say that had it been a white family finding themselves in a similar situation, your FlySafair staff would have bumped against each other as they tried to outdo each other in helping the white family. And chances are, had it been white kids, your so-called laws and regulations would have been relaxed to see to it that they did not miss their flight.

Ahlangane and Anelisiwe missed their flight, because after running between your counters like headless chicken for minutes on end, and after having resolved that Ahlangene, 14, should rather go alone, your staff told refused to check him in, saying he had missed check-in time by a couple of minutes, despite having largely contributed to the saga that unfolded.

Your staff then told us to pay an upfront amount of R300 if we wished to be placed on standby for the next day’s flight (Friday, November 24, 2017), even though space was not guaranteed.

They refused to cancel our tickets and mumbled something about a no-refunds policy.

Your staff treated us like thrash and a nuisance, and gave us a demeaning attitude that made us to feel like a big inconvenience to the FlySafair operations. Yet, it people like us who are keeping your employees in their cushy jobs, and by extension, FlySafair flying.

It would be wise for a fledgling company like FlySafair, the official domestic carrier for the Springboks and SA Rugby at that, to be beyond reproach in how it treats customers.

To say we are disappointed over the ill-treatment meted out to us by your insensitive staff would be a huge understatement.

And to that end, we are demanding an unreserved apology from FlySafair, and to be reimbursed the amount spent on the air-tickets. Worth noting is that meeting these demands would do little to undo the emotional trauma suffered by us, especially the siblings, who ended up travelling by bus and spending a gruelling 12 hours on the road.

As I await your prompt response on the issues raised above, I shall resist the temptation to ventilate this issue on social media and on public platforms and agitate for a crippling boycott of all your services.

Yours sincerely, LM