What just happened….

I spent Sunday looking after a charter flight from Amman, Jordan to Doha Qatar. I know the group and their requirements well and they know me, It normally goes smoothly. The arrangements had been made with the handling agent a week in advance and the group had flown into Amman the previous week on the same airline what could go wrong ...

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On the Thursday the airline called the office and told us we would be delayed by 6 hours from midday to 6PM due to a technical problem with the aircraft. The group manager complained to the festival organiser who spoke to the Chairman of the airline who just happened to be at the performance that night. The chairman said don’t worry it will all be OK and you will not be delayed. We called the airline operations department who said … you will be delayed. This went on all Friday and Saturday morning. I arrived in Amman at 5:45pm On Saturday evening and was supposed to pick up the barding cards and bag tags for the group. Because of the delay I had arranged to go into Amman the next morning and label the baggage before it was brought to the airport. I went to the airport office for the airline and spoke with the duty manager which was no mean feat as I had to blag my way past a security check point. On arrival at the airline office the duty manager seemed to know nothing about the flight, I then rang the director of ground services for the airport who said “don’t worry it will all be OK” he then rang the duty manager. I was then told that If I had the manifest they would print out the bag tags and boarding cards and I could collect them in about two hours after they called me. After blagging may way back through the security check point, which was harder this time as no one is supposed to go back through the process this way I went to the Hotel. 

Getting to the hotel in itself was complicated, I rang the hotel and asked for the shuttle bus and was told the Hotel was full, I said I had a reservation and they said the bus stopped at 5PM please call again tomorrow. I said I had a reservation and they put the phone down on me. I then asked at the information desk and was told where the shuttle bus stop was. Having found this I rang the hotel again and was told they would send the bus. I asked at the bus stop if I was in the correct place and was told yes. The helpful man told me I was looking for a bus bigger than this one, pointing, and smaller than that one, pointing again. After about 15 minutes I asked someone else and he pointed to a man and said “he will help you” I asked the new man and he said “the bus in on the way.” After another 10 minutes it arrived. At about 9:30PM the duty manager called me and told me the boarding cards and bag tags were “not possible until the morning” when the charter manager cane to work. Moments later I received a call to advise that the flight would now be on time some 6 hours earlier than planned. After some frantic phone calling to the tour group I went to bed. 

The next morning I was checked out of hotel by 7:30 and waiting for the shuttle bus, “don’t worry sir it will be here”  at 7:45 I asked again and was met with shrugs, a while later I saw a shuttle bus and went out to it, are you going to the airport I asked and was told “yes but only for business class passengers” I said lying through my teeth “ I am traveling business class”. I arrived that the airport at 8:30AM and called my contact to say I was in terminal 1, “don’t worry” I will send you one of my men but you should be in Terminal 2 where the flight will go from. I went to Terminal 2 and 10 minutes later met Mr Abdullah. “I need the boarding cards and bag tags” I said “the passengers can the boarding cards when they arrive” he said. “what about the bag tags” I said, he said “you already have them and the bags are already tagged”. “no” I said “they are not tagged and they have just left the hotel” Mr Abdullah then started shouting in Arabic into the phone. “The charter representative is not here” he told me when he got off the phone, “I will get the bag tags and the passengers will use the VIP terminal” great I thought, “what about the boarding cards” I asked, the passenger can collect them at the check in counter” “no” I said I am supposed to get them all first and hand them to the passengers. Mr Abdullah shouted into the phone again. At this point I was told “we don’t have the manifest can we cannot print the boarding cards” I began to get frustrated but kept a calm demeanour 

 

After some more conversation Mr Abdullah announced “your flight will depart from terminal 1” I said “the baggage driver has been told to go to terminal 2 and I don’t have his phone number” “don’t worry” he said “we will look after you”. He then told me to follow him to terminal 1 where we passed through the same checkpoint as the previous night but today all was OK.  At the check in desk Mr Abdullah introduced me to Mr Hassan before doing a runner never to be seen again.  Mr Hassan said “I am here to help you, I am the charter representative” great I said explaining everything again. Then I am introduced to a check in agent who says “I will print the boarding cards. And proceeded to print 39 cards, “there you are” she said. “There are 93 of us” I said. “I will check she said” at this point the porters start to arrive with the baggage. I have no idea who they found the truck or how the truck knew we had changed terminals. “Here are the rest of the boarding cards ” the check in girl said. I ticked them off and we were now up to 81, “they are still not all here I said” “I will check” she said. Meanwhile I receive a call from the passengers to say they have arrived at the airport and where should we meet. Bag tags were spewing out of her printer and porters were running around labelling everything. “come through the first security check and I will meet you there” I say  “It should be right now” the check in agent says giving me some more boarding cards. After I checked again I said “there are three missing” I will check” she said. The porters are now pushing the baggage into the system so fast that the baggage belt overheats and shuts down, The passengers start to arrive in the check in area asking for the boarding cards “there you are” the check in agent says and finally we are right. I had over the boarding cards to the passengers tour leader and say I will look after the baggage. At this point the airports director of customer experience arrives and introduces himself to me, “It’s all going very well” I lie surrounded by baggage. There is a beaming smile from him. The baggage system then stutters back into life before shutting down a moment later. For the next forty five minutes the baggage system coughs and splutters as we force the baggage down it. The passengers are at the gate and I should be first onto the aircraft with the signage for the seating but I am still at check in, don’t worry about that the tour leader says, we know where we are sitting. “don’t go without me” I say. After another 30 minutes I am on my way to the gate. I get a phone call to see if I am coming. And I tell them to wait. I finally board the aircraft 30 minutes after we should have departed and go WHAT JUST HAPPENED!!!.