I enjoyed another week of helping travelers solve problems at the Information Desk. I also had an interesting brush with a departing passenger and her abandoned automobile.
My first encounter of note concerned a young woman who approached the desk appearing anxious and almost distraught. She had dropped her parents off at the airport earlier that morning. They were scheduled to return home to Beijing via an #AirCanada connection through Toronto. Unfortunately, their outbound flight from #RDU Airport was cancelled and she told me her parents were stuck at Gate D12.
“Why are they ‘stuck’ at the gate,” I asked? She told me neither of them could speak or read English. Since she had made the reservation she was the primary and only email contact in the airline record. So, while this young lady knew her parents had been rebooked for the next day’s fights, they did not. I inquired if she tried to call them. She couldn’t as she’d forgotten to carry her cell phone from home in her haste to get them to the airport in time to meet their flight.
So many questions popped into my head and I was answering myself just as quickly. Eventually I thought I’d just call the gate and ask the agent to speak with them. But I soon realized they wouldn’t be able to communicate. Then I had another idea. All I had to do was call the gate and ask the agent to find one of them and give them the phone to speak with their daughter. Sadly, the call never went through and rang busy on each and every attempt.
Finally, I requested the young lady write a note to her mom in Mandarin, explaining the situation and asking them to follow me back to the terminal. That she did. I asked her what her mom was wearing and set off looking for her a woman wearing a jean jacket and carrying a pink hat. (Thank goodness she was wearing something descriptive.)
When I arrived at Gate D12, I noticed the agents were busy on their phones and computers assisting in rebooking all the passengers. Her parents were tucked away in a far corner all by themselves, both of them looking very relaxed, just reading their books. I realized they probably thought the flight was simply delayed since they couldn’t understand the gate announcements or read the digital “Cancelled” notice clearly showing above the two gate agents. I politely handed her mom the note, whereupon they gathered their belongings, smiled warmly and followed me back to the terminal. Their daughter was so happy to see them and thanked me repeatedly. My response? “I’m happy to help. That’s why we’re here!”
During another day’s shift, shortly after noon, Jonathan came up to the desk looking exasperated and said, “I hope you can help me ‘cause I don’t know how to get my bag.” It turns out he was booked on the early morning #AlaskaAirlines departure to San Francisco which had also been cancelled. By the time he’d waited in line to be rebooked on the #AmericanAirlines afternoon flight, he was really hungry. So, he stopped in a restaurant on the concourse for a nice unhurried breakfast. And 90-minutes later he checked in at the American ticket counter for his boarding pass but didn’t receive a baggage receipt. Inquiring about this, Jonathan learned that, although Alaska and American have an interline agreement covering baggage, for some reason there was no checked luggage associated with his reservation.
He was instructed to either check with the Alaska Airlines ticket agents or go downstairs to their representative in the Baggage Service Office. Since it was shortly after noon and Alaska’s next departure was their Seattle flight leaving at 4:20PM, their ticket counter wasn’t open yet. He hurried down to Baggage Claim and saw that his bag had been placed inside the office for safekeeping. You see, as Jonathan was having breakfast the bags from his cancelled flight were placed on the carousel for passenger pick up. But he never showed up in time to pick it up. Now he noticed the office door was locked and there was no one was inside. There wouldn’t be a representative in that office until closer to the arrival time of their flight from Seattle later that afternoon. He was almost in a panic. He could see his bag but he couldn’t get to it and his American Air flight departed much earlier than Alaska’s next arrival. Could I help him?
“I’ll sure try,” I responded. Knowing there was no one upstairs at the ticket counter yet, I called the Alaska Air Operations Manager on duty and explained the situation. Sam listened carefully and promised to be at the office within 10 minutes. He was a man of his word. Soon after, Jonathan came by to say thanks and was on his way. As I saw him go up the escalator with his bag in hand, I really hoped he enjoyed his leisurely breakfast!
My final story of the week concerns an unattended vehicle left on the lower level. I had made an announcement on our PA system that it was subject to ticketing and towing if the owner or driver did not return to the described vehicle immediately. Within minutes a woman came by to tell me she was ready to go through TSA Security when she realized we were referring to her car and what was our problem anyway? I told her she wasn’t permitted to leave her vehicle unattended. “But It’s only for a while. I have a plane to catch and my son promised he’d be here sometime later today to take it home,” she answered.
“Ma’am, you really only have two choices: you can either park the car in one of our convenient lots or you can leave it where it is. But if you do that, your vehicle will not be here when you return and you’ll also be facing a fine as well as towing charges. For your sake, I hope you make the right decision.”
“Well I hope I don’t miss my plane”was her response, looking at me angrily before walking out to park her car.
If I didn’t see it and hear it for myself, I wouldn’t believe that could happen in this post-9/11 day and age. But it did!
Until next time..safe travels.
Great post George - keep up the passenger support - and work on your Mandarin!