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It's hard to love Air Jamaica these days
"It seems as if the Love has flown away from the Bird or the Bird has dropped from the Love in Air Jamaica," My Special F remarked last week. For anyone who has had a recent Air Jamaica experience, this must ring very true.
You know that My Friend P did warn me about travelling on that airline, but I am such a patriotic fool that I said "No, no. I am going to back my national airline."
And what happened. Well, I should have followed my friend's advice. How can I describe the experience on flight JM017 from New York to Kingston: "It was cruel and inhumane punishment." I don't know what I did, but I have either done something very wrong or I intend to do something very, very wrong to have been exposed to this nightmarish travel experience.
The high points of the trip:
❒ A late flight. When Air J wants to be late, it needs to do it right. Flights that are scheduled to leave at 1:25 p.m. should just leave at 5:30 p.m.
❒ Zero communication. If it is only four hours late, should the airline call its customers and let them know they don't have to rush to the airport at 11 a.m.? Oh no, you need properly upset passengers on a late flight, right? Let them suffer! Don't warn them!
❒ No baggage labels for passengers. Okay, so it's JFK - a slightly busy departure point, you might think. But what is wrong with you silly passengers? You want to label your luggage with Air Jamaica baggage labels? Please! Go ask American Airlines for tags.
❒ Malfunctioning microphones in the departure lounge. Every other airline on the planet thinks it is not a bad idea to say to passengers: "Hey! Your plane is here!" Not Air Jamaica. Maybe they think there will be a riot if the upset passengers know that the late plane has finally arrived. Or, it was just another part of the travel torture to make announcements that no one could hear.
Oh yes! Those were the high points - the good things that happened on the flight.
"It seems as if the Love has flown away from the Bird or the Bird has dropped from the Love in Air Jamaica," My Special F remarked last week. For anyone who has had a recent Air Jamaica experience, this must ring very true.
You know that My Friend P did warn me about travelling on that airline, but I am such a patriotic fool that I said "No, no. I am going to back my national airline."
Torture
And what happened. Well, I should have followed my friend's advice. How can I describe the experience on flight JM017 from New York to Kingston: "It was cruel and inhumane punishment." I don't know what I did, but I have either done something very wrong or I intend to do something very, very wrong to have been exposed to this nightmarish travel experience.
The high points of the trip:
❒ A late flight. When Air J wants to be late, it needs to do it right. Flights that are scheduled to leave at 1:25 p.m. should just leave at 5:30 p.m.
❒ Zero communication. If it is only four hours late, should the airline call its customers and let them know they don't have to rush to the airport at 11 a.m.? Oh no, you need properly upset passengers on a late flight, right? Let them suffer! Don't warn them!
❒ No baggage labels for passengers. Okay, so it's JFK - a slightly busy departure point, you might think. But what is wrong with you silly passengers? You want to label your luggage with Air Jamaica baggage labels? Please! Go ask American Airlines for tags.
❒ Malfunctioning microphones in the departure lounge. Every other airline on the planet thinks it is not a bad idea to say to passengers: "Hey! Your plane is here!" Not Air Jamaica. Maybe they think there will be a riot if the upset passengers know that the late plane has finally arrived. Or, it was just another part of the travel torture to make announcements that no one could hear.
Oh yes! Those were the high points - the good things that happened on the flight.
In poor company
I came back and started to do some anecdotal checks with some of my frequent-flier friends and, alas, it appears that my flight experience was hardly unique. In fact, I was happy to hear that others had shared my pain because I was finding it hard to believe that what I had experienced was by accident or just incompetence. That's right. I have comforted myself by insisting that what happened was being done intentionally by all the staff involved because such apparent levels of incompetence could only have been perfectly planned.
Why would they do something like this that is tantamount to sabotage? I don't know. But it seems to be a better explanation than thinking that a functioning team of people could be so consistently getting it wrong.
I am not here bellyaching because I can - but I was very irked by what transpired. The damage that was done to the Air Jamaica brand and the brand Jamaica on the flight I was on was in part irreparable and irreversible. I sat and watched tourists suffer in disgust and vow never to subject themselves to such torture again. I was, at this point, embarrassed at my association with the national carrier - it was time to draw on my dual nationality. But I didn't.
Minister Wehby and Minister Bartlett, you both posture as intelligent men, and I believe you both are. Stop the rot on the Air Ja service. We can ill afford this right now.
Email comments to: myfriendp@hotmail.com
I came back and started to do some anecdotal checks with some of my frequent-flier friends and, alas, it appears that my flight experience was hardly unique. In fact, I was happy to hear that others had shared my pain because I was finding it hard to believe that what I had experienced was by accident or just incompetence. That's right. I have comforted myself by insisting that what happened was being done intentionally by all the staff involved because such apparent levels of incompetence could only have been perfectly planned.
Why would they do something like this that is tantamount to sabotage? I don't know. But it seems to be a better explanation than thinking that a functioning team of people could be so consistently getting it wrong.
I am not here bellyaching because I can - but I was very irked by what transpired. The damage that was done to the Air Jamaica brand and the brand Jamaica on the flight I was on was in part irreparable and irreversible. I sat and watched tourists suffer in disgust and vow never to subject themselves to such torture again. I was, at this point, embarrassed at my association with the national carrier - it was time to draw on my dual nationality. But I didn't.
Minister Wehby and Minister Bartlett, you both posture as intelligent men, and I believe you both are. Stop the rot on the Air Ja service. We can ill afford this right now.
Email comments to: myfriendp@hotmail.com
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