An attitude problem

AUGUST 1997 - Every time one reads stories in newspapers of the plight faced by revenue paying passengers of PIA, (followed invariably by stout PIA denials that such terrible things never happened), one is left perplexed. The irony is that almost all the time the ordeals passengers face can be so easily avoided. Yet they are not, and the battles between PIA and its customers, continue. Allegations, denials, allegations, denials.

Any airplane can develop technical problem. Flights can be delayed, held up, flights can even be cancelled. Any number of things can cause passengers problems. Hundreds of flights, millions of passengers - it’s a complicated business, but the difference between a good airline and a bad one is in the attitude to its paying customers. That is where PIA defaults, year after year, and that is where PIA will always remain a second rate airline. No amount of fancy planes will ever overcome what seems to be an attitude problem. At the end of the day, people are people and they remember the small things far more than the big ones. Ironically, areas where PIA defaults regularly, are the most easily corrected ones, but then if we were to learn and improve, would we be where we are today ?

A friend who travels first class and almost always chooses PIA, being senselessly loyal to PIA, was travelling in Europe from Switzerland to Paris (this time not by PIA). He found himself on the day of his afternoon departure from Zurich, rather far away in a very small village, with some friends he was visiting. He was planning to catch a train from the village to Zurich, but the thought of lugging his heavy baggage was demoralising. His friends said this was not a problem. A girl at the tiny village railway station confirmed his Paris flight reservation, (their computer, unlike PIA’s was not ‘down’), checked in his baggage all the way to Paris, issued him a boarding card for his flight, gave him a train ticket which took him through Zurich Station (where he got off, deposited his briefcase in a locker, shopped about), then took another train with the same ticket right into the airport terminal and eventually boarded his flight without any fuss. All this achieved without any ‘sifarash’ or aggravation. Extraordinary ? Apparently commonplace in Europe. Yet here one can’t even dream of such a thing happening. PIA of course has nothing to do with this story, but the example merely confirms how other countries have made the travelling public’s convenience their first priority.

Here’s his PIA experience earlier this summer. While travelling with his 80 year old mother to UK by PIA, (paying full fare - first class), he had requested two front row seats and a wheel chair for his mother. There were no front row seats he was informed at check in because these could not be reserved. PIA policy. There was no wheel chair either. Much shouting and general confusion prevailed. A wheel chair was finally produced. There was no first class lounge. Abolished. VIP culture and all that. There was another lounge available on extra payment. Finally when the time came to board the aircraft, there was no vehicle to carry the wheel chair as requested earlier. This was employed elsewhere and couldn’t be spared. There was a long waiting line and before the first class passengers finally boarded the plane, they were completely drenched in the heavy downpour that was lashing the airport that dawn. As passengers mopped their drenched heads and clothes with handkerchiefs, tissues or scarves, PIA’s first class service attendants, the creme de la creme of the airline, watched nonchalantly till passengers yelled for towels. As for the front row seats, the mystery was solved soon enough. Two ministers of the government boarded. Each occupied a single seat on either side of the aisle so that no commoners could sit next to their lordships. These empty seats were then used to dump newspapers, magazines and food. Apparently this is common place on all PIA flights.

These are not extraordinary stories but they indicate the value systems that govern us. Stories of passengers on PIA flights denied knowledge of departures or arrivals are too commonplace. Flight Information has no information and reservations cannot be confirmed because those amazing PIA computers never work. Full flights are often half empty because seats have been blocked by those undying and infernal VIPs who are, believe me, flourishing and in the pink of health. Elsewhere there are constant reports of passengers with OK seats being bumped off and stranded passengers at airports all over the world searching in vain for PIA ground staff which magically disappears at the first sign of trouble. No hotel rooms for those left in the lurch, no food for hungry passengers and no milk for small infants. Reports of lost baggage abound and hundreds of instances are reported where PIA staff displays rudeness and aggressive behaviour at the slightest opportunity. Last month Zia Moheyddin penned this horrific account of being jailed in a PIA plane at Manchester for hours on end.

An air journey with the national airline is an ordeal of one kind or another. Agreed that we have an ancient fleet, that we are poor and getting poorer by the day, but how much does a smile cost or a thoughtful gesture ? Can there be a time when staff at PIA counters and elsewhere will actually look forward to the sight of the travelling public, particularly those who pay the full fares ? Will they be happy to shepherd them through, making their journey a pleasure rather than a pain ? The new PIA Chairman should concentrate on service and leave technical matters alone. If he can bring about even a 5 percent improvement in staff behaviour towards the passengers, PIA will not remind people of pain in unmentionable places.