Question: why do airlines charge 10% of a regular ticket price for infants? I assume its because other than carrying your childs stroller to your destination, they provide you with a bassinet for your infant and if your baby is too big then they provide the legroom necessary for you to hold that baby on your lap. So, is it plausible for a customer to be annoyed if they are provided with neither? Yesterday, after the 10 hour flight from Chicago to Istanbul, and a 3 hour layover at Istanbul airport my husband and I wearily got onto the plane towards Jeddah with our two very tired infants. We had to take a bus from the terminal to our airplane. The bus was packed to the brim so that I had nothing to even hold onto as I held my LO in my arms and I had to park his stroller and use that as support as the bus lurched. Right before the doors of the bus closed we saw a man with a long face and spiky brown-blonde hair (a Turkish airlines manager presumably) shouting at a customer with 4 children, urging her to get on the bus. The customer was stating quite logically that there doesnt seem to be any space so if another bus is coming she would get on that. There was only one family left after them and they were business class so yes, a bus would come for them but this family would not be allowed to board it. Thus shouting, the manager hustled the lady and her children into our faces. Later, just before the door closed the lady discreetly got off. A smart move because I think she definitely would have been sandwiched between the doors when they closed. With that background we got onto the plane to find that we had two small seats in a completely full-to-the-brim aircraft. No legroom, no bassinet. We were clearly expected to hold two kids in two laps mere inches apart for the next four hours. So I asked a member of the cabin crew if there were any extra seats so we could be more comfortable. The steward politely deflected and pointed us into the direction of the manager of the ground staff. Lo and behold, it was our friendly neighborhood I-shout-at-my-customers manager. And he treated us the exact same way. Im not going to say I didnt sound annoyed or tired because I did. But NOTHING justifies the shouting we received from him. And then, when I asked for his name because I wanted to complain he ripped off his name tag and hid it. I have never been so appalled in my life. Kudos to Turkish airlines for letting such well-trained managers roam their gates and airplanes. Storming off angrily, the manager returned minutes later to tell us that the seats we were in had only 3 oxygen masks and our seat must be changed. Kudos again to Turkish airlines for being so desperate to mint money that they absolutely do not consider the basic safety of their customer when assigning seats. We were delayed for 35 minutes as the manager went from seat to seat asking if anyone would be willing To switch with at least one of us. No family was willing to be separated. Finally one saudi couple sent their kids to our seats and let us sit next to them and the plane took off. I dont think I have ever faced such appalling customer service ever before in my life. For the information of Turkish airlines this was the flight departing at 8:10 pm from Istanbul to Jeddah, on Saturday october 11th. That being said, the cabin crew was unbelievably polite and also apologized for the managers behavior. This is not to say that that, in any way compensated for the humiliation of being shouted at in front of a plane full of people for demanding something youve paid for! Not to mention, the hellish flight we had to endure after that. I think airlines should be more organized about seating where infants are concerned. If there are enough infants to cover all the bassinet seats then they shouldnt allow passengers with infants to book tickets for that flight unless they are willing to provide an extra seat in place of the bassinet. This detail should be programmed into their online booking system. Is this asking for too much or do you agree that this makes sense?
Posted on: Sun, 12 Oct 2014 22:58:29 +0000
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