Substandard airline service is a lost opportunity
Our national airline, its staff and services, are to some extent responsible for projecting our image throughout the world as the airline forms a link between us and international destinations. It’s a tall order, for sure, but our airline has to present a positive image of the Kingdom to international visitors and provide reliable and comfortable services to its passengers. In some ways it’s a thankless role, since good service often goes unacknowledged but no one ever forgets a fiasco. All over the world airlines struggle to avoid negative publicity and to provide quality service despite budget constraints and international regulations. And it’s no secret that with regard to these requirements Saudi Arabian Airlines is currently failing.
Consumer reviews of the airline’s service give it, on an average, a dismal two stars out of five. Of course, we all know that these consumer reviews are, in a sense, unfair. By and large the people who bother to log on and register their opinions fall into two categories — those who have had terrible experiences and those who have had excellent ones. If the former exceeds the latter, the rating results is low. Those who have had normal experiences — not too good and not too bad — usually don’t bother to post their opinion. This makes it clear that the way to improve a company’s rating is two-fold: One must, at least occasionally, go above and beyond what is expected, and just as importantly, one must avoid service disasters. In fact, this last point is the most important of all. A single instance of terrible service can outweigh a year’s worth of good service in the eyes of the public. Of course, this is terribly unfair, but it is a reality in the media- and consumer-driven world that we live in.
I have no doubt that many customers have received adequate or even good service on Saudi Arabian Airlines — but we’ve all heard stories from those who haven’t. There are people who lost their luggage, whose flights were canceled at the last moment… and if one is lucky enough to get on a flight that leaves and arrives on time, chances are that the on-board service is lackluster at best, and downright awful at worse.
The problem goes beyond our airline, of course. Efforts have to be made to upgrade our international airports as gateways to our country. Every international traveler has strong views about which airports they love and which they hate. Again, there doesn’t seem to be much middle ground in people’s opinions, and these strong preferences can really influence customers' travel decisions.
And maybe most importantly, substandard service by our airline and airports points to a lost opportunity to showcase our country, culture and people. Some international airports have dedicated themselves to that goal — providing a taste of local culture along with excellent facilities, to create a pleasant experience and encourage those in transit to come back for a visit next time. If expanding tourism is a goal — as it must be — we can’t afford to neglect the role of our airline and airports as ambassadors.
• @DrAlaaGhamdi
