You probably read the title of this article and thought to yourself, “this must be another horror story about Heathrow”. Truth be told I have never set a foot inside Heathrow, I’ve always avoided it because I’ve heard the stories but after my experience this week I may actually consider flying through Heathrow on future trips.
I prefer to fly out of a local airport called Durham Tees Valley Airport (MME) because its a small airport that is only about 30 minutes away from my home and has short lines. Most of the flights that operate out of this airport are small connection flights. There are some advantages to this, but I learned over the past weeks that there are some major downsides as well.
Most of my travel woes can be attributed to bad weather, but also I found that much of my distress and frustration was caused by the airline staff themselves. Particularly the staff of KLM Royal Dutch airlines. Here I will outline my major gripes about KLM, most which are related to communication with the passengers.
Durham Tees Valley Airport
- The problems started right away with my first flight from Durham Tees Valley to Amsterdam. The flight was delayed an hour and then when we finally landed the plane was on the ground at Amsterdam for a further 45 minutes. These problems were obviously unavoidable, but my frustration came from the lack of information we were given by the KLM flight attendants. On every single flight I have ever been on no matter how big or small, the captain has always let us know the local time and temperature when we reached the gate. When my flight landed in Amsterdam, no such announcement was made. I knew I was cutting it close so I didn’t want to waste any time getting my cell phone out and powering it up to see what the time was. As we were exiting the plane the flight attendants were reluctant to engage with any of the passengers, the majority of the passengers were cutting it close to a major connection and believed they had probably already missed their window to board their connecting flight. They would only tell us that ground staff inside the terminal at the gate would be able to give us answers, but when we entered the airport nobody was there but security checking passports. The important information they failed to share with me was a) what time it was and b) that my connecting flight was holding the plane for me so there was no need to panic. Instead as I sprinted through Schiphol I worked myself into a state of panic, having no idea what time it was, if I was going to the correct gate, or if there would be any plane waiting there when I arrived at the gate. I could have made my way to the gate quickly and calmly with only little bit of information from the crew onboard that flight.
- My returning Delta flights from Chicago Midway to Detroit and then from Detroit to Amsterdam were fine. The only minor problem I had was that Delta airlines in Chicago charged me $50 for my second bag even though I was connecting to an international flight and I showed the desk staff my receipt from KLM which indicated that I was allowed two pieces of baggage. The woman working the desk at Midway told me that it didn’t matter, that was KLM and this was Delta’s policy. It was my belief that Delta and KLM are under the same umbrella but Delta was unable to honor a receipt from KLM which I found very surprising. I still don’t know if this was a mess up at the Delta desk or what, but I have submitted a claim back to KLM to reimburse me for my second piece of luggage and I am awaiting a reply.
- The problems started again when I reached Amsterdam. I had a 4 1/2 hour layover there and as I sat in the lounge suddenly my flight number was simply removed from the board and the woman at the desk conveniently walked away leaving it empty. I proceeded to another nearby desk and asked the woman there what had happened. She just told me that it was cancelled and I was to sit down and wait for an announcement. So I did, and I and the other confused passengers sat there for nearly an hour before we were finally given the announcement.
- The displaced passengers from the KLM flight home to England were placed on two flights, I was lucky enough to get onto the one that left at 9:15 that evening instead of the one leaving the following morning. However, the catch was that instead of flying into Teesside I was going to fly into Humberside where I would then take a coach to Teesside. So it was a 50 minute flight to Humberside followed by a 2 1/2 hour coach ride.
- While waiting to board the plane to Humberside I witnessed several disturbing things, the most disturbing was that when I glanced over to the security checkpoint at the front of the gate the security staff were all goofing off. There was nobody in the line, but there was a lounge full of passengers watching them as they stood around looking like a gang of high school kids giggling, making faces and even at one point playing hide and seek behind the metal detectors. I was shocked at this behavior, especially considering that less than two weeks earlier the security staff at this very airport allowed a man with explosives sewed into his underwear onto a flight to Detroit. You would think considering the PR nightmare this has caused for the security team at this airport they would be under strict orders to keep up the appearance of focus and vigilance, and this was clearly not the case.
- The other disturbing thing I witnessed as I stood in line waiting to board my flight was that the member of staff who was supposed to be checking people in was 20 minutes late arriving to the gate. The passengers on the flight to Cardiff that left out of the gate before mine had a boarding time of 8:05 on their tickets but the woman didn’t arrive until 8:25, which was also 10 minutes after my flight to Humberside was scheduled to board. I felt like those of us on the small KLM Connection flights were placed in a remote lounge and forgotten and the gate staff arrived when it was convenient and their job was to scan boarding passes and that was it.
- When it came time to board my flight an airport caddy arrived with two minors and a woman in a wheelchair. I was standing at the front of the line and witnessed much discussion as to how they would get the woman in the wheelchair on the plane. In order to board the plane passengers are taken on a bus from the gate and then walk across the tarmac and up the stairs to board. I was really shocked that 15 minutes AFTER the plane was scheduled to start boarding, the staff still had not worked out with this poor elderly woman how they were going to get her on the plane, something that really should have been arranged before she even arrived at the airport.
- As we stood there, now 25 minutes later than the boarding time listed on our tickets, the staff simply made an announcement that they were having communication problems with the plane and that we should all sit down and it would be another 10 minutes. There was little explanation of what was causing the delay, although those of us at the front of the line could deduce that the problem was they hadn’t made the proper arrangements to assist a disabled passenger and were scrambling to find a solution.
- Since there was nobody at the gate who could help answer our questions about what would happen when we reached Humberside, once aboard the plane we asked the flight attendant if she could give us any indication of how long our journey from Humberside to Teesside would be. She just said she was aware that there were people on the flight who were from a cancelled flight into Teesside and she heard that a coach was supposed to take us to Teesside but she had no other information at all for us. It wasn’t until I landed in Humberside and boarded the coach that I was finally able to ascertain approximately what time I would arrive and made travel arrangements to get home.
- My final outrage came when we started pulling into the Teesside region. I was shocked to see that less than an inch of snow had fallen and all of the major roads were completely clear, that is until we actually pulled into the airport and that was another story altogether. It was clear that maintenance at the airport had been neglected, even though the airport has access to its own plow and gritters the entire area surrounding the airport (and I can only imagine the runway) were frozen solid from the dusting of snow that had fallen and then frozen on the ground because nobody had bothered to remove it. That’s right, what was supposed to be a 4 1/2 hour layover followed by an hour flight turned into a 9 hour layover, 50 minute flight and 2 1/2 hour bus ride all because the maintenance staff at Teesside couldn’t move less than an inch of snow.
I have always enjoyed the ease of flying from small local airports, and I have also always enjoyed my flights with KLM. However, it seems that the staff of Teesside Airport and KLM Royal Dutch airlines are only able to deliver in the best of circumstances. The next time I fly I will probably avoid KLM and especially if I am flying in the winter I will avoid flying out of Teesside in the future.
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I’ve had little international flying experience but when in high school flew KLM on a choir tour…..MANY years ago. At that time, they were rude and just as you describe here. I had an aisle seat and they were pushing a liquor cart down the aisle. A wheel caught a seat and an open bottle of liquor spilled over the side all over me and not one word or apology was given. Thanks for the heads up that nothing has changed.
It really is hard to understand “security” staff yucking it up like teenagers just days after the fiasco on Flight 253 left that same airport. I think it might be worth finding out which authority covers that and make them aware of your observations. That sure isn’t behavior that would deter anyone with ideas of getting something onboard to do others harm.
After they had been goofing off for a few minutes a senior member of the security staff approached and they straightened up and headed back to their posts, so their superiors are aware of it. I highly doubt this was a one time thing, though.
What a miserable sounding experience. I know I’m a whore for BA but you might want to look into them next time you travel – they have more direct flights to the USA than any other airline and you can avoid the mess of connecting flights. Also BMI has a large presence in the midlands and the north they have many direct flights as well.
Yeah, I think next time I might spend the little extra money to fly BA and probably try to leave out of Newcastle, which is slightly bigger than Teesside, or in the winter even Manchester which is a two hour drive but nothing compared with all of the delays I had getting home.
The flight crew on my transatlantic Delta flights were great. I had no problems, they communicated with the passengers often and they made me feel at ease. Those were my longest flights, but actually the most pleasant by a long shot.
The lesson here is: buy a watch.
Thanks for the very helpful tip, seems simple enough but sadly due to my sensitive skin I have never been able to wear a watch without breaking out in a rash where the metal touches my skin.
I know a lot of people also don’t like to wear watches when flying because its just one more thing you have to take on and off when going through the metal detectors at security.
Might I jump in and suggest when your phone is due for replacement, you buy one that has a flight-safe mode. in essence it keeps the system on but turns off all antennae allowing you to tell the time on that easily.
Knowing the time wouldn’t have helped you get to your flight quicker though, if you trust the information on your boarding card, well you’re more likely than not going to end up at the wrong gate anyway in these cases of major delays and weather disturbances as gates often change and get reassigned. Once finally in the Terminal you’d have to look at one of the screens to find your connecting flight’s gate and as someone else pointed out these screens also tell the time. There shouldn’t have been any need for panic.
Furthermore on your comment about the security… that’s not KLM they are a privately hired firm who work under the airport authority. KLM has nothing to do with them.
One last remark, well more of a question and a comment really, do you speak Dutch? I’m asking because in regards to your return flight you make many assumptions (at least that’s how it’s portrayed in your writing) so I will make some of my own. Perhaps the lady in a wheelchair was also re-accommodated onto your flight and they hadn’t taken this into consideration because of all the delays. Of course this is inexcusable, however, do you know for 100% that this was the cause of the delay. Another assumption of mine is that you don’t speak Dutch and that you weren’t able to ascertain whether this was the true cause of the delay as you state.
Finally, yes I know I keep going on… Are you one of those people who 20 minutes before boarding lines themselves up at the gate hoping to be the first person on the plane. You make it seem like you are in how you write. May I ask, on behalf of my fellow frequent flyers that you please only come up when called, that way I don’t have to battle a crowd to board when they call for elite frequent flyers. Thank you.
I have an iPhone which has airplane mode. During take off and before landing passengers are ALWAYS told to turn off all electronic devices. I can only use my iPhone in airplane mode during the flight between take off and landing so having my phone in airplane mode is completely useless when I have to turn my phone off anyway for landing. Not sure what you are getting at there. As a “frequent flyer” I would think you would have noticed that you are asked on every flight to turn OFF all electronics during takeoff and landing.
Knowing the local time would have given me an idea of how much time I had to get to the gate without having to stop, and this is the type of information I am accustomed to hearing announced at the end of a flight. I knew I was leaving out of the E Terminal because that is where the Delta/NW flights fly out of, but if I had more information from the KLM staff it would have been helpful.
I didn’t need to speak Dutch, they were conversing with the woman and each other in English and there didn’t seem to be any other activity going on. The time between the cancelled flight and rescheduled flight was 5 hours, so there is no reason why they should have waited until this late to make arrangements for this woman to get on the plane.
I have never once gotten in line until my row is called, not sure how you can get the impression about how early I get in line based on how I write. The flight had actually opened for boarding and the the back rows called and everyone was there standing in line with boarding passes out while this was happening, which is why it was quite clear these people did not have their act together. I was only at the front of the line because I had been in the airport for 9 hours and had plenty of time to get to the gate early and sit in the seats nearest to the gate.
I don’t care if the security staff work for the airline or that airport. Its unacceptable behavior and reflects very poorly on the airport which is the main hub for KLM.
I am simply pointing out how the KLM staff could have made my experience much less frustrating but failed to. When it comes to customer service, its the little things that count and in the airline business communication is key when it comes to satisfying your customers.
Next time when you are at AMS, and don’t have a watch – either have a look at one of many, many monitors all over the airport what time it is; or ask one of many, many people inside the airport what time it is.
No need to get yourself into state of panic at all.
I did stop to look at the main monitor in the lounge, which wasn’t updated to reflect any changes in the departure time and required me to stop and stand for awhile which I really didn’t have the time to do. I don’t think its too much to ask for the flight crew to provide this kind of vital information to passengers when the plane doesn’t reach the gate at the scheduled time.
Funny, my experiences (I fly more than 100,000 miles a year) with KLM and US carriers are totally the opposite. KLM: often friendly and helpful staff, still good food and beverage service. US-carriers: flight attendants that appear not to hate their job, unhealthy and not very tasty food, and you have to pay for a little bottle of wine. I got stuck due to bad weather in the US twice: no information, no service, and no reimbursement for hotel and other costs. 100s of people were stranded in Amsterdam airport on 20th Dec due to the bad weather and their hotels were paid for, of course if they flew with KLM or another European carrier; not with NW,Delta, or United.
Interesting, I actually had some bad experiences flying Transatlantic with American Airlines in the past so not surprising you have had bad experiences with US carriers. I definitely thought the flight attendants on the AA flights from Chicago to Manchester seemed to hate their jobs and it was pretty miserable. The last time I flew KLM Transatlantic (before Delta took over operating that route) it was a very pleasant flight as you described, but the small KLM City Hoppers have always left much to be desired.
Although now all of the KLM flights between the US and Amsterdam are actually operated by Delta/NW so passengers delayed on those US airlines out of Amsterdam on the 20th would have been handled and compensated the same as KLM passengers.
I have had way too much experience with Durham Tees. One year, I was sitting in the “departure lounge” with my three kids, waiting for the board to indicate we could board a London bound flight. I went to the “loo” and was horrified to hear them making a last call over the speaker system. I grabbed the kids and raced to the gate, only to be met with a tight-lipped crew member who knew the whole situation but was damned if she was going to walk five feet to tell me I had to go to board the plane.
Last year my mother was booked from this airport, to Chicago via London and British Midland cancelled the entire route without giving us any further information. It was major panic and meant that we had to rebook on BA from Newcastle, my mother’s bags didn’t go all the way through, she had to re-check in at Heathrow etc. etc. Never again. I hope they close it.