As I recently wrote, my flight from Abu Dhabi to JFK in September was rather hellish (see, My Jetihad Flight From Hell)! I decided to share the details of my flight experience with Etihad, as I believe the airline would want to be informed of such matters. I was wrong. I don’t think they wanted to know.
I filed this feedback online:
… It is hard for me to comprehend why an airline such as Etihad which works hard to protect its reputation for good flight experience, would join with an airline such as Jet Airways. From beginning to end [the flight] was horrific. First, the flight was filled to capacity. People were all over the place. Second, it was freezing. The woman next to me wrapped herself in 3 blankets, and when I got up to use the rest room, she added my blanket to her collection …. Third, the crew was understaffed and the passengers were rude. My flight attendant, Mohammed was amazing. Passengers were ganging up on him because there was no chicken dishes left, and he tried his best to make everyone happy… Speaking of food, it was atrocious. I’ve had good meals on EY flights – this was not. It was doughy, high on carbs, low on everything else. Fourth, people were pigs. They threw garbage all over…. Finally, after 12 hours in the sky…. a faucet stream of water came pouring down on my head. It was almost comical, but it wasn’t… Mohammed found some unused blankets and covered the wet seat with these blankets so I could be seated for landing
I was curious what sort of response I would receive – I wondered whether Etihad would address the issues I raised. A few days later, I received an email from the Etihad Guest Relations department essentially ignoring my complaints, and informing me that I should take my issues up with Priceline. The email said:
I am sure you will appreciate that guests have options to book their flight through Etihad website, directly through our sales office and also through an authorised travel agency. Having reviewed your reservation I note that you were booked through an authorised travel agency.
If such an arrangement exists, these Conditions of Contract will apply and our guests will be advised of the name of the carrier operating the aircraft at the time they make a reservation.
First and foremost, all bookings have a prompt that mentions the carrier that will operate that particular route.
I regret to learn that your flight was operated on a Jet Airways Aircraft and that you were disappointed in this respect.
I note from the description of the service offered onboard the flight that you deemed several aspects of the service below your expectations and I do regret any inconvenience which you may have experienced.
However, in view of your reservation being made through a travel agency, may I respectfully suggest you to liaise directly with them as it becomes their responsibility to inform you accordingly.
We are not insensitive to our guest’s concerns and appreciate you taking the time and trouble to write to us in respect of the difficulties you experienced.
On the other hand, it was a pleasure to read your positive words for our cabin crew Mohamed. I will ensure that your message is passed on to him as I know he will be happy to learn that his efforts did not go unnoticed.
Not one to leave this alone, I wrote back:
… I’d like to bring to your attention that Etihad, not the authorised travel agent, changed my flights after the initial booking to these flights. I was not aware that it was a JetAirways plane, and in any event, I would not have had much choice other than to cancel an already booked trip at that point.
Five days later, I received a further email from Etihad Guest Relations. Taking into account the language barrier, this letter nevertheless seemed to be saying something like “it is obviously people with gripes who file feedback, and obviously we can’t make all the complainers happy, so go away and be gone.”
It is disappointing to read that we have been unable to respond to you in a way that meets your expectations. Our sole intention when corresponding with any of our Guests is to address their individual concerns and seek a solution to the problems, wherever possible.
It is sometimes inevitable that the resolution derived is deemed unfavorable by our passengers. We understand your disappointment.
I have certainly looked again at what happened and taken into account everything you have told us. Whilst mindful of your disappointment in respect of the explanation and apology offered in our correspondence, please allow me to assure you that the well defined policies we have in place to ensure that we are both consistent, and fair, to all of our guests.
Whenever we write to guests it is normally because expectations have not been met, and we always try to recover the situation as best we can.
I did not take this further. Honestly, I’m not sure what I expected or if I even expected anything more than what I received. It would have been nice though not to be treated as if I were an
A New York frequent flyer who elegantly combines her passions for worldwide travel, running a gazillion marathons all over the globe and staying fit ... without sacrificing her fancy for good wine and food.
That was quite funny and I liked the donkey picture. Unfortunately for me Jetihad flies from SFO-AUH and convenience wise there is none so close. As long as I have business class it is doable and I am not complaining.
Yes, my mistake was not upgrading to business when I had the opportunity to do so early on. I would fly Jetihad again as long as I fly business class.
I enjoyed that pic of an a*s as well! 😉 I agree with the previous commenter that flying Jetihad is fine in a premium cabin but in cattle class, you’re better off flying another airline.
As for language barriers, there really isn’t any given the person who wrote it back to you is probably a native English speaker who is an expat in the UAE.
I tend to think the author was not a native English speaker.
I read your original post, and was sympathetic to that experience. A marathon flight on that route in coach…phew what a nightmare.
Here’s what I think is beyond unreasonable and entitled…..OF you.
You honestly blame the airline for their passengers being pigs, selling all the seats (so they can be profitable and hence stay in business) and your seat neighbor stealing your blanket and other whiney problems. What??
Possibly the only thing in the airline’s control (other than food…but tried US airline’s biz class food lately?) was who they hire, and that sounds like was one of your saving graces.
Obviously you aint gonna say…Oh I see your points. So hey…Dont like long haul economy, don’t fly it. Especially in that part of the world.
whiney?
My exact thoughts…
It’s educational to hear about Etihad’s pitiful customer service response. It is clear that Etihad is responsible for the poor Etihad experience on a Jet Airways equipment that Etihad switched this customer onto, regardless of how the flight was booked. Etihad just confirmed that I would not be paying for ANY class of service on its flights in the future. Only by using miles for premium class would I ever bother with this airline.
Shameful, Etihad.
thank you so much for your comment.
I completely agree with Andy. Your problem wasn’t with the airline, it was with the passengers. Starting a list of complaints with “it was completely booked” is just ridiculous. What else do you expect in economy class? I’m glad they sold out! The passengers that fly Jetihad are the same ones that would have otherwise flown Etihad. It sounds like your just pissed off that they switched the aircraft after you had already booked, which I understand can be annoying, but this is taking it a bit too far. I completely agree with how the Etihad customer service responded to you. I wouldn’t have been as diplomatic if I was responding to your whining.
Looks like they outsourced their customer relations to Jet Airways also
I had a bad experience in EY first class, and I wrote a them some objective feedback. I got the same sort of canned response you received. EY has -almost without argument- the highest quality airplane experience available with their A380. It defies belief their customer service is so inept.
I feel it is completely reasonable to hold an airline accountable for the type of passenger conduct you described. Only the airline can let the situation get that bad. One tends to appreciate the relative order of a domestic US carrier in that regard.
There is a 0% chance your response was penned by a native English speaker. To add insult to injury, my customer service response was clearly “cut and pasted” as it arrived in multiple fonts, colors, and sizes.
I will not fly on EY again, or at least not until a find a great miles redemption or decent fair or need to transit through AUH.
The letter you received from Etihad was better-written than the comma-spliced run on sentences in your blog. Beyond that, I was appalled at how thinly you veiled your prejudice towards the other passengers and people in this part of the world (language barrier, pigs, thieves, hellish).
You may have moved to New York, but you’re not a New Yorker. You’re at the heart of what’s ruining the city.
I did not single out any group. How do you know I wasn’t talking about some of the Americans on the plane?
I’ve had similar experiences on ANY FULL FLIGHT ECONOMY be it a European, American, Middle Eastern or Asian Airlines. Did you have a problem with the Hard Product other than the IFE? Truth be told, Jet used to have the most comfortable flights and the best service out of EWR or JFK when they started their international routes. Seems like your problem is more with the people and sardine like situation than the actual hard product.
I kept kicking myself, because there was a special on transfer of Thank you points to Etihad before my flight, which I could have done to purchase an upgrade. But did I do that? Noooooooooooooo. business class looked fine.