The true measure of an airline’s service is not how amazing the experience is when things are going well. I reckon the best airlines are those who put things right when they have gone wrong with as little difficulty for passengers as possible.
My flight back from holiday was delayed overnight. The way that British Airways handled it I thought was brilliant. So in today’s article I will explain exactly what happened and why I thought that BA did a good job. Read on…
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On the day of departure
The BA flight number 32 from Hong Kong to London is a long and gruelling overnighter. More than 14 hours flying through the darkness and in November the Sun never catches up with you.
It is scheduled to leave Chek Lap Kok International Airport at 10.45pm and arrive into Heathrow at zero dark hundred.
BA does not participate at Hong Kong’s in-town check-in. This allows you to drop off your bag at either Central or Kowloon Stations and head through security at the airport whenever you like.
But without in-town check-in the earliest it is worth arriving at the airport is 7.45pm. That gives a lot of time to spend in town.
The last day in Hong Kong always feels a bit weird for me. I check out of my hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui around 11am and normally head over to Central. I might head up to the Peak or ride the ding-ding. But that element of waiting for a flight just makes the day strange.
This year I had an impressive slab of roast beef for late lunch and rode the “Star” Ferry a few times over the harbour and back. I sat in Chater Garden for a while and explored the HSBC exhibition. Finally it was time to go. I took this photo as my farewell to Central.
Stage one – arriving at the airport
The Airport Express is a comfy and smooth ride. I got to the airport almost exactly three hours ahead of time at 7.45pm.
As with my experience in previous years, the queue is quite long. Here is what the queue looked like last year. This year it was quite similar.
A point of interest was that there were some traders and their bags. I would estimate that a group of three had about 60 pieces to check in.
The traders are often discussed but rarely seen unless you go to the right airports. After hundreds of hours in my career working around this market segment this is the first time I have seen them in the flesh.
But after about ten minutes I began to suspect that something was up. The queue was not moving and the agents at their desks did not appear to be taking bags, checking passports or issuing boarding cards.
So I checked my e-mail and saw this:
The time stamp was 7.41pm. It had been sent only a few minutes before I arrived at the airport. Had I checked e-mail while still in Central or Tsim Sha Tsui the message would not have arrived yet and I would still have gone to the airport.
When I actually flew home the next day the Captain explained that they were preparing the aircraft to go and found they needed a part that was not available in Hong Kong.
The thingamabob was sent over from London and used to repair our plane.
Step two – awaiting the hotel
BA said in the e-mail above that they would send me hotel options. While I was waiting for these I popped over to the airport terminal hotel to see if they had rooms. They did. But I waited.
At 8.06pm this e-mail arrived:
A nice touch. But I am still awaiting the hotel.
Six minutes later at 8.12pm this e-mail arrived.
The hotel portal looked like this.
I chose the Sheraton, which was confirmed by e-mail. I then walked over to airport customer services and asked where the hotel shuttle would come. I went there and the bus arrived 45 minutes later, at exactly the time that customer services had said that it would.
Step three – awaiting news of the flight
Hotel check-in was seamless. I even got Bonvoy points credited a few days later.
At 3.37am, this e-mail arrived:
And when I woke up a letter was under my door saying that I had the room until I needed to go to the airport.
Step four – taking the flight
I presented myself for check-in at around 7pm. Since the flight was now leaving at 11.55pm this meant I had more time than usual to enjoy the dim sum and noodles at Cathay Pacific’s The Pier. Win.
The boarding pass said BA32 and the original date. The actual flight number at the gate was 32D – ooh-er missus!
The flight itself was not busy. Club (Biz) and Traveller Plus (Premium) were about 60%. Traveller (Economy) was almost empty. But I knew from the expertflyer.com seat map the day before that both front cabins were booked at full load.
I suppose this makes sense. There are plenty of airlines serving Hong Kong and London, although not necessarily direct. They all have hundreds of Economy seats on every plane.
Since this flight was off-peak, finding another Economy seat is probably not too hard. Business and Premium are another matter though. Seats are scarcer in these cabins as airlines match supply and demand.
After taking my UK domestic connection my bag arrived on the belt. It was the very last off. But to be totally honest, by that stage I was just grateful that it had arrived at all.
Overall impressions
I thought that this was a good effort at recovery by British Airways.
Everything was automated and worked as it should. The IT worked. My hotel booking was seamless. My bag arrived at the end. Of course I would rather have got home on-time as planned, but these things happen.
Well done BA!