In the wake of a terrible month for airlines and their reputations, we’re remember brighter moments of great customer service in the air. Want your next flight to go as smoothly as possible? You may want to be flying one of these.
Southwest Airlines
In 2015, Peggy Uhle was onboard a Southwest Airlines plane leaving Chicago to Ohio when her plane aborted take-off and taxied back to the gate. Not that there was any technical fault "“ the pilot had been informed that Uhle"™s 24-year-old son had had an accident and was in a Denver hospital in a coma.
Uhle was escorted off the plane (she thought she was on the wrong one), where she was told to call her husband. Unbeknown to her, the airline had already booked her on the next flight to Denver.
"They offered a private waiting area, rerouted my luggage, allowed me to board first, and packed a lunch for when I got off the plane in Denver," Uhle said at the time. Her luggage was taken to a hotel, so she could go straight to hospital "“ and she was never charged a penny.
Etihad
Last year Etihad hit the headlines for aborting take-off on a flight from Manchester to Abu Dhabi to allow a couple to disembark in order to see their dying grandson.
As the plane was taxiing to the runway, the couple received a text saying that their grandson was in intensive care. They alerted cabin crew, who told the pilot "“ who turned the plane back to the gate. The Manchester Evening News reported that Etihad staff had already found the couple"™s car and had it waiting for them by the time they got off the plane. The child died the following day "“ after they had spent time with him.
Flybe
When a member of The Independent"™s travel desk booked a flight to visit a dying family member two years ago, they bought a non-refundable, non-changeable ticket. But when it became clear that the family member was going to die sooner than expected, they immediately booked a new emergency flight and called to see if it was possible to refund the original ticket. No, said the call centre staff "“ but we"™ll allow you to change it for a small fee, when you"™re ready to make another journey. They didn"™t ask for any proof, they said, because they could tell it was a genuine emergency. The writer has been a staunch Flybe supporter ever since.
Turkish Airlines
Last month, Turkish Airlines hit the headlines when its cabin crew helped deliver a premature baby midair shortly after the plane took off from Guinea. The child was born at 42,000 feet and both mother and baby were pronounced healthy on arrival in Burkina Faso. The airline later tweeted congrats to its new "Princes"…
