Hello and Welcome to the Queens Corner
Here we will talk about all things British
I'm sure everyone has heard of the recent shocking
United Airlines news
On April 9, 2017, due to a United Airlines aircraft
being overbooked, four passengers needed to
volunteer to change flights
When there were no willing volunteers the company
used a computer to randomly select passengers
who would need to change flights
3 agreed but the fourth didnt and
thus was violently dragged off the plane
Preposterous
Unfortunately, this was not the first time United
Airlines has dissatisfied its customers
Do you remember the 2008 incident
with the broken guitar?
After United Airlines severely damaged a singers guitar
and refused to pay for maintenance costs the singer
also wrote a song about his experience
posting it on the internet in hopes of getting justice
The video went viral resulting in United Airlines
stock prices to plunge 10% in only a few days
You should choose a different airline
or just hop on a coach
because United Airlines breaks guitars
you need to be careful choosing United Airlines
as to avoid them giving you scars
United Airlines seems to be wrapping up a long list of
dissatisfied customers and with this recent
outrageous news added to the list
I think we can safely say
that overbooked tickets
won’t be one of United airlines future problems
However I do not wish to dwell on such upsetting news
as today we will be talking about one of the worlds
most famous and oldest airlines
Their slogan is We’ll take more care of you
Four words are stitched into every captains uniform
To Fly. To Serve.
You’ve guessed it
British Airways
British Airways has been around for a long time
The airline’s first flight took of in 1919
and carried just one passenger
What else was on the plane?
The plane’s cargo included newspapers
Devonshire cream, jam and grouse
British Airlines was also the first airline to introduce
an inflight meal service in 1927 and
in 2000 it was the first airline to install
fully flatbed seats in business class
We british love our English tea
but did you know that British Airline serves
around 40 million cups to passengers every year
British Airways' business history in China dates
back to the opening of the first flight
to Hong Kong in 1936
In 1980 they opened flights to Beijing
In 2005 they opened flights to Shanghai
and in September 2013 they opened flights to
Chengdu
To celebrate the new route between
Chengdu and London, panda mascots
dressed in British attire danced
in a shopping mall in Chengdu city centre
With a blue stomach, a white body and
the face of a cute panda
This is the London to Chengdu Panda plane
Unfortunately on January 13th 2017 British Airways
cancelled its London to Chengdu Route
We all know that pilots are outstanding
but did you know that a British Airways pilot has also
written a series of children’s books?
Captain Rob Johnson decided to write the books for
his two young sons, who were always interested to
hear about his experiences of flying to
different countries
The series is called Pilot Polly and Pilot Ollie’s
Amazing Adventures and The stories are designed
to educate kids about flying, as well as about the
culture and history of different cities
which the two pilots visit
If the recent United Airlines service news has annoyed
and put you off flying, let me tell you a
heart warming story
his story comes from an 2016 online blog
from a British Airways passengers who wanted to
record an experience that though only small
had found very touching
Despite a short delay due to the aircraft he was to board
arriving late, all the passengers and himself boarding
the flight seemed to be in good spirits, they all
assumed that bad weather was the culprit and there
wasn’t a lot any airline could have done about it!
Once the boarding was complete,
they then sat and waited for the aircraft to leave.
Five minutes or so later, the pilot started to make an
announcement. Nothing unusual about that.
However, as one passenger looked up, he noticed
that the captain was not making the announcement
from the security and safety of the cockpit, but
rather was standing in the middle of the aisle at the
front of the aircraft. The captain proceeded, in an
incredibly human way, to advise his passengers of
exactly what was going on. The flight had indeed
been delayed due to the bad weather – but in
addition, one of the tyres had a slight tear in it
so had to be replaced
Continuing his communication, the pilot advised
that boarding had to start late, as a tyre cannot be
replaced with passengers on the plane
‘you would not change a tyre on a car with passengers
in the vehicle either’, he told them
Apologising for the delay and inconvenience, he
gave everyone an idea of how long they would have
to wait for the flight to leave and completed the
usual announcements he would have
normally made from the cockpit
This man did not follow a rule book, he did not sit
on his seat and hide behind a door delivering a robotic
insincere message. This captain treated his customers
as real people – showing them the courtesy that he
would like someone to show him.
There were murmurings of approval from all the
passengers on the flight, and it was clear that it had
had a dramatic effect on improving what could have
been seen as a negative experience, and
passengers forgave British Airways for any
inconvenience the delay caused them.
This story shows that good customer service is
very effective, no matter how high your status,
those with a high EQ do things well,
and its easy to get customer appreciation
there is also another British Airways story
that is worth listening to
The British Airways owned Boeing 747 aircraft flight 008
due to fly from London to Tokyo, Japan
due to a fault was delayed 20 hours
In order to not make passengers in Tokyo waiting for
this flight back to London delayed
British Airways helped these passengers to transfer
other companies flights. A total of 190 passengers
accepted British Airways arrangements and
were transferred to other flights to London
however there was an old Japanese lady named
Dazhu Xiuzi who refused to transfer to another flight
determined only to take the British Airways flight 008
The journey from Tokyo to London, was around
13000 km, however the British Airways flight 008
only carried one passenger, Dazhu Xiuzi.
She alone enjoyed the confort of the aircraft's 353 seats
as well as six crew members and 15 service staff
According to some estimates, this international flight
lost the British Airways company at
least 100,000 US dollars
Upon the 008 flight landing in London,
there were cheers and British Airways had earned
an international reputation of good customer service
British Airways attends to the immediate needs of
its customers, and grasps every opportunity to create
unique value for its passengers,
at the same time winning a huge competitive
advantage for itself
Thank you for watching this episode
of the Queens Corner
See you soon