Service industries often fail to provide service. It’s an overused oxymoron, a bit like “military intelligence.” That’s as true with Saudi Arabian Airlines as with any other airline. Not so common, however, are the stories of good or even exceptional service. It seems to be a fact that scandal is always negative. Perhaps “positive scandal” is another oxymoron. However you look at it, here’s some “positive scandal” about Saudia.
Recently, a traveler arrived in London on a Saudia flight from the Kingdom. He had had a sleepless night flight and to make matters worse, was suffering from “Jeddah flu” and the effects of a falsely labeled “sleeping tablet.” In the interests of security, he had pushed the SR20,000 digital cameras he used in his work under his seat. Upon arrival in London, he describes leaving the aircraft and completing formalities as “the vaguest of memories, rather like a half-remembered nightmare.” It was ten hours later after dead unconsciousness rather than sleep that he realized he had left the cameras on the aircraft.
London Heathrow earned the name “Thiefrow” in the 1960s and the high value of the digital cameras plus the traveler’s memories of the airport 30 years ago convinced him that he would never see his equipment again. “I was certainly not optimistic when I telephoned Saudia very near the end of the business day,” he said. “I met with promises that they would ‘look into it’ and several ‘inshallahs.’ I rang off, not much heartened.” He admits he had mentally given up the cameras for lost and resigned himself to squabbling with insurance companies.
Saudia, however, had not given up as easily as the unhappy passenger. Raouf Qutteineh, the Saudia manager for passenger services at Heathrow, is made of sterner stuff. He promised to call when the equipment was found — note: “when.” The traveler said, “I missed ‘when’ at the time and only recalled it later. It struck me as an odd thing to say.” Late that evening, to his surprise, Mr. Qutteineh called and said, “‘I have your cameras. When would you like to collect them?’ To say I was amazed is a gross understatement. I had honestly expected never to see them again.”
Raouf Qutteineh of course has seen it all. Working out of an nondescript office hidden behind the Saudia desk and also collecting items left on Saudia aircraft is part of his day. “We have a team of security personnel from Securicor Aviation Services who go through each aircraft immediately after the passengers have disembarked, before the cleaning staff get on,” he explained.
The reason for his use of the word “when” soon became clear. He had total confidence in the security team and something much more significant, the traditional morality of the personnel. It was Syed Fawad Ali who found the cameras. Perhaps it is the right time to reflect on Mr. Ali’s honesty; there’s a lesson in the thoughts.
It is all too easy to be swept along by the mainstream of media commentary on Islam and the “war on terrorism.” I believe that in their own quiet ways people such as Mr. Ali are following their beliefs and getting on with honest pursuits, guided by their precepts. What is particularly interesting is that for Raouf Qutteineh, “when” was a perfectly ordinary assumption regarding the normal and expected behavior of his Muslim colleagues; it was only our traveler who thought otherwise.
Arab News Features 31 January 2003
