When the waiting time is longer then the flight time (with your community airline)!

Considering my tight work schedule, I was just thinking of jumping onto the plane on an afternoon 1510hours flight to Kuala Terengganu (KT) that provides me ample time for checking-in to hotel, refresh and head for an important dinner meeting at 1900hours.

It was during the journey in a taxi to Sky Park (Subang Terminal) at 1325hours that I received a text message from Firefly where I am only 200 metres from the Terminal that says;

“Firefly FY2102 SZB-TGG on 09DEC09 has been retimed to 1630Hrs. For enquiries call +603-78454543 (8am-9pm) daily. Sorry for the inconvenience caused.”

When I enquired at the airline office, I was assured that the retimed flight of 1630hours is confirmed only for the staff to re-appear from the back office after confirming with her superior that the flight is now scheduled for 1530hours.

The staff manning the counter was pretty uptight about guest service and does not impress me with a good impression of the quality of service. I wonder if would be any different had it been a foreigner standing in front of this lady?

At this point, I had a little apprehension that I would arrive in KT on time for the important dinner and had no confidence in the answers provided by the office staff.

Upon checking-in, the friendly staff there Cik Haieda informed me that the flight has now been re-timed to 1535hours while I duly check-in assuming the time given would be the correct timing. She was kind enough to inform that there would be refreshments for passengers for flight delays beyond 2 hours.

There were no more updates thereafter and thus, I dutifully proceed to the departure hall at 1445hrs only to see the departure door signage informing of the “re-timed” flight time of 1640hours.

What really is shocking is that there were no announcements made of the re-timed flight!!

However, at 1830hours, an announcement was made that the flight will now be at 1940hours!!! I had anticipated this when I saw the ground crew scurrying to reach for the PA system to make the announcement.

What the F*%@!!! This is real shocking!!!!!!!

Is this airline named after that insect, trying to compete with Air Asia in terms of delays?

This does not augur well having to wait for more then 5 hours at the airport filled unproductive hours and had caused my scheduled finalization meeting in KT to be called off at the eleventh hour.

Not even the refreshment vouchers issued could compensate for the business deal which had gone awry!!! What is that perhaps RM60-70 compared to the value of the contract being discussed.

Can airline companies be held liable for the loss of revenue arising from flight delays in this instance?

Are budget airlines so unreliable in terms of being on time?

Community airline is supposed to serve community well and not causing such inconvenience with the round trip delays!!!

Forget about the tagline Your Community Airline then!