A missed connection

For a major national airline, South African Airways offers a pretty crap service but this is well known, but for certain routes, we don't have many options until better options become available.

My flight was delayed from Perth International Airport, this happens at airports all around the world for a variety of reasons and is not the issue. However, on board the aircraft I notified cabin staff that this delay in departure needs to be forwarded to Air Katanga check-in staff so they can hold the aircraft for me.

The integrity of South African Airways is at risk here, their service is poor, everyone knows that - that is a given. There are not too many options available, if Qantas starts flying the Perth to Johannesburg route again then their monopoly is broken and their lousy service will not be accepted in a competitive environment.

I requested that as the flight is delayed, my information is forwarded to the check-in counter of my next flight. They assured me that this has already happened, I pointed out this is a company charter and still no issues they told me. Needless to say, this did not happen, they were dishonest in their dealings with me - in short, they lied.

I arrived at the check-in counter 2 minutes after the staff left, needless to say, they had not been contacted so I missed my flight. But in true South African Airways it gets better, they loaded the luggage on the wrong conveyer and these guys are in no rush to do anything.

Had South African Airways lifted their game ever so slightly then this wouldn't have been a problem. To say these guys move in slow motion is an understatement, they have no accountability whatsoever, it is not hard to work out why they are in financial difficulty.