The flight was supposed to be at 1.40 pm but he received a text message from AirAsia saying that it had been postponed to 8.40 pm. Unfortunately when he arrived at the LCCT, the flight had been delayed again and the airline staff were unable to confirm a definite departure time or reason for the delay.
Air Asia's legal department representative has apologised on behalf of the carrier for the inconvenience caused and informed that the flight was delayed due to technical problems. Why did AirAsia wait until the secretary took the case to the tribunal before acknowledging the problem? The standard apology for inconvenience caused is similar to the announcement we hear whenever there is some problem with the light rail transport system. An apology does not compensate for the time lost.
AirAsia, the transport operators or any public service provider must at least keep the customer informed whenever there is a delay. Keeping silent will definitely agitate the customers more and add to the stress level of everyone.
AirAsia as a leading low-cost carrier in the region has always emphasised that they want to keep their costs at a minimum so should not the same principle be applicable to their customers? Keeping a customer in the dark does not augur well for the airline's reputation. They might be a giant among their peers but others are always waiting for the opportunity to entice their customers to the opposite side.
Some have even opted to fly with regular carriers and pay a premium rather than go through the hassle of not knowing what happened to their flight. It might have been an isolated incident but the question still bugs me why AirAsia waited for the case to be heard at the tribunal. A responsible business will acknowledge their weak points and try to rectify the problem as soon as possible. They could have responded immediately when the incident happened but I guess they felt they were not obliged to make customers their first priority.
Image from wawa4eva
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