Chaotic Experiences during Recent SQ 801 Flight Delay - Disappointed Reply from SIA

The following is the reply I received from Singapore Airlines Limited through registered mail. Although it is sent in printed copy and stated as private and confidential, I have decided to post this reply fully for the benefit of the readers.

I am disappointed on the typical reply from a large organization. Especially the writer has appeared not to have proof read her reply. You could see that in the third paragraph, the writer of this letter stated that “We are truly sorry that the handling of the flight delay was UP to STANDARD.”

The inclusive of a US$50 gift voucher worked out to be a source of unhappiness for me. My main objectives for spending the full afternoon to prepare this lengthy compliant letter appeared to worth little. I have spent the valuable time to help our national carrier to improve its customer service and crisis handling. Little do I expect that this letter is meant to ask for donation from the reputable organization. I think it is good material for preparing my service quality case book.

I have also being disappointed by the low level reply for such an important complaint. I guess the higher management does not have any chance to receive feedback on their poor service quality management. Guess what, I have tried all means to find a way to feedback on my complaint, however, even in the website of SIA, you could not find an option for complaint. In the end, I could only opt for a Complement. Well, it is still a complement from me, a negative one.

Please let me know if anyone know how I could get these detailed feedback to the top management of SIA sitting in the ivory tower.

13 September 2006
06091665/CR/YJ

Dear Mr Koh

I read with concern your email dated 12 Sep.
Please allow me to apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience that you and your family experienced when flight SQ801 / 09 September was delayed due to an unforeseen technical problem. Initially, when the mechanical fault was detected, our engineers had anticipated that the problem could be rectified quickly and advised that the repair would delay the flight by around an hour. Unfortunately, the engineers later informed us that they required more time as the problem turned out to be more complex. As such the departure time was changed several times.

This is what is termed a “creeping delay” and unfortunately, we were unable to confirm the departure time until our engineers were completely satisfied with the repair. The creeping nature of the delay and limited seating on the next flight to Singapore – SQ821 / 9 Sep – also hindered efforts to provide alternative arrangements to passengers as efficiently as possible. Due to the sudden influx of passengers following disembarkation, we regret that the queues at the check-in counters were lengthy, and that you had to wait for a long time before being attended to.

We are truly sorry that the handling of the flight delay was up to standard. Although we have established guidelines where our staff will attend to our customers’ needs during a delay in order to minimize the level of inconvenience, I regret that we failed to demonstrate this to you on this occasion. Our Station Manager in Beijing has since reviewed the handling of this situation and is working with his team to make improvements. I wish to assure you that we will do our utmost to improve our delay-handling procedures, as we understand the importance of minimizing any discomfort and disruption to our customers’ schedules.

While we do not compensate passengers for flight delays as stated in the General Conditions of Carriage, we recognize that we have greatly disappointed you on this occasion. As a gesture of our apologies, we would like to present you and your wife with an inflight gift voucher. This voucher (worth US$50) can be used to purchase items onboard our flights or through mail order. If you wish to make a mail order, you can obtain the KrisShop mail order form from www.krisshop.com and send it with the original inflight gift voucher to the address indicated on the form. I sincerely hope this gesture will go some way in making up for the disappointment.

Thank you for giving us this opportunity to correspond with you, Mr koh. We look forward to welcome you and your family onboard our flights again, under happier circumstances.

Your sincerely
Yip Su Jen
Manager Customer Services