Last word on air travel this year: Further to the ongoing conversation on Kenya’s national carrier Kenya Airways, let me pen one last piece. Hopefully, this is my last word on the subject this year. Because the salient lessons obtained cut across the entire aviation industry, I trust that these will be helpful to travellers this season.
Airlines all over the world are allowed to overbook passengers up to 10 per cent of their capacity. This is to preclude planes from flying with unoccupied seats because of “no-shows.” Most airlines, KQ included, ask that passengers check in at least three hours before a flight.
Most also allow passengers to check in online. Those who check in after everyone else are put on standby. They can only be assigned a seat if there is a no-show. Airlines take this very seriously because unoccupied seats on a flight are considered unsold seats.
Cheap tickets or tickets on offer usually come with restrictions. These could be in terms of limited baggage allowance or penalties when it comes to changes in travel dates. Some are inflexible and cancellations may require the issuance of new tickets without refunds for the cancelled ones. An airline may also have a baggage policy that differs from a partner airline. Changing between these may result in additional payments for extra pieces carried. Read the fine print.
In the aviation world, lost baggage is that which remains unlocated for more than 100 days. Anything before that is merely misplaced and will be delivered to the passenger within that time frame. Baggage gets misplaced when it isn’t properly tagged at the point of checking in.
Make sure your bags are properly tagged with stickers on the side that have your name as well. Also, make it a habit to distribute your business cards or addresses in various visible parts within your baggage. Should the outer tags fall off, authorities may be forced to open your baggage. The cards will enable them to locate you.
Let me now speak specifically on KQ. After talking to numerous passengers and reading through whatever I have found online, this is what I have learnt. A lot of times, what comes across as a “bad attitude” is actually the delays in decision-making as a result of many layers of bureaucracy.
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KQ has done two things to redress this: cut down the layers of bureaucracy by empowering check-in staff to make some on-the-spot decisions. Second, it has ensured that there is always a senior manager on hand to make decisions that require authorization at a higher level. Consequently, the decisional process has been cut down from over one hour to a maximum of 20 minutes.
KQ’s communication system was previously run under the KLM-Air France arm of the partnership that they had. It prevented KQ from easily accessing customer contacts resulting in poor communication whenever flight changes occurred. KQ now runs its own systems.
Those who have travelled recently can attest to the fact that they are now getting timely notifications by email or SMS whenever there are any disruptions. The national carrier also now has its own loyalty program called Asante Rewards.
Whilst KQ doesn’t discount negative customer experiences, some of them, especially those vented on social media, turn out either to be a result of misinformation or grossly exaggerated. Two incidents come to mind: a passenger who wandered off to the wrong lounge and couldn’t be located when his delayed flight was ready for boarding. He missed the flight.
Second, another passenger suffered mishaps in New York as a result of delays arising from bad weather. The passenger travelled on KQ to JFK. But the last-mile connectivity was on Delta who cancelled multiple flights out of JFK.
Finally, a few mishaps notwithstanding, Kenya Airways is actually a great airline. This is reflected in the number of awards it has carried home this year. Some of these include: Africa Leading Airline for Economy class, Best Inflight Magazine, and Africa’s Best Airline Staff, at the World Airline Awards 2023.
Kenya Airways Cargo won the African Airline of the Year at the Stat Trade Time Awards. Others include KQ’s subsidiary Fahari Aviation which was nominated in the prestigious Travel Innovation Awards. KQ is also the first African carrier to use Sustainable Aviation Fuel from Africa to Europe.
Safe travels to those on the roads and in the skies. Merry Christmas to you all and best wishes for a prosperous 2024.