The saga with JetStar, the new budget airline operating in New Zealand continues. Over the weekend a number of passengers were turned away from the check-in counter because they arrived less the 30 minutes before take-off. Some who were shut out said they arrived earlier but the queues were too slow.
JetStar want to set their rules very clearly. They want people to know that this 30 minute cut-off time is absolute. This is their right and it’s probably a good way to run a budget airline.

The customer service point they seem to have missed from the reports I have read is that they have shown very little empathy for the passengers who missed out. Even if they were going to exclude someone from the flight they could still say ‘Sorry about that, it is hard isn’t it’ or something that lets the disgruntled passenger see that their feelings have been noticed.

The cynic in me says that all publicity is good publicity in the case of a new airline.

First posted by John on 23rd June, 2009