International Communication

International Communication

Name:

Institution:

International Communications

Description

A few years ago, we had decided to have a vacation with my family to Italy. My parents and siblings were all ecstatic on the trip. However, on the return trip we experienced very bad customer service regarding the treatment we received. The point at which we changed the planes was in Rome. There shortly after, the plane stopped at Singapore while on transit for refueling. During this short stop, one of the passengers that were on board the plane became rather hysterical. His behavior stemmed from agitation as he noticed the plane had not landed in Auckland. On inquisition, he insisted that he was enroute to Auckland therefore there had been a mistake and he had boarded the wrong plane.

He insisted and was adamant on wanting to alight and get a plane to Auckland. His anxiety was because the plane had not landed in Auckland an according to him, it meant that there was something wrong with the allocation of his plane ticket. At this point, the airline staffs were desperate as they tried persistently to persuade him that he had boarded the correct flight and that there was no need for him to alight. Seeing that they could not appeal to his rationality, they requested through the loudspeakers for an individual who was fluent in Italian as the passenger only communicated in the said language. My father quickly volunteered to avoid wasting more time. Unsuccessfully, he failed to convince the passenger that the plane was headed to Australia as he continued to demand to be let off the plane to board the right one. The airline and the staff onboard finally agreed to his demands to disembark the plane and they had to sort his luggage before releasing him.

During this period, the said man and his hysterical state had delayed the planes by several hours and the passengers were running short on time. Prior to locating his luggage, the Italian man approached the airline staff to notify them that he had changed his mind and would like to remain on the plane to proceed with the journey. For safety purposes, this request was denied and he was forcefully requested to disembark from the plane. Shortly after, resuming our flight, an announcement was made stating since the plane had been seriously delayed then we would proceed to a specific gate where we would be handed our boarding passes instead of wasting more time at the service desks. The English speaking people on the plane including my family and I headed to the announcement however, we were denied the passes at the gate and were requested to head back to the service desk were we got the same reception.

During this runaround, all the other passengers that had not heeded to the instructions from the announcement had received their boarding passes and already embarked on the plane. After the service desk was closed, we were left rather distraught, tired, and worried. After a while, the staffs were able to provide us with the passes and we boarded the plane separated. My asthmatic elder brother was situated in the smoking zone, which eventually made his quite ill. Despite my mother having pre-booked for four seats inclusive with a bassinet for our younger sibling, we were provided none of these amenities. When my parents requested to have close seats at the business class so that we could all seat together, the staff treated us with contempt and disdain as they considered the awful lot that created a fuss due to lack of boarding passes thus further delaying the flight. The churlish treatment was quite unexpected especially after the efforts my father had shown in assisting the staff on the previously fight on dealing with the Italian man.

Interpretation the Experience

The experience my family went through was quite frustrating. We were filled with a lot of remorse regarding the manner in which we were treated on the last flight. My mother had to carry the baby all the way Brisbane after leaving Singapore, which was tiring and aching. My father was beyond furious as he had to deal with some respiratory issues having him allocated a seat in a smoking zone despite his asthmatic condition. The most saddening fact was that my mother had made earlier booking 8 months prior to this vacation hence the treatment would have been better than experienced from the airline staff. We were very distressed throughout the whole flight to Brisbane. In my opinion, the airline staff demonstrated their disdain and contempt, which was intentionally as they blamed our group for the delay of the pan, yet they failed on their part to provide clear instructions or assist with accessing the next boarding passes. Their attitudes were evident, as they would sneer at my mother when she requested for he bassinet for our younger sibling that was rather cruel and quite distasteful. The manner i n which they demonstrated their remorse was also insulting particularly to my father who had really tried to assist them when they were unable to control the hysterical Italian man. From our observation, the airline staff was aware of their unwarranted rude treatment of our family an even expressed in a letter to the airline by one of the passengers who was also onboard on the plane and witnessed how my family was treated.

Evaluation of the Experience

On evaluating the experience, several interpretations that would have made the flight back more comforting for my family and I. Firstly, the airline staff were dutifully responsible for ensuring that the communication was effective when they made the announcement. This would have reduced the extent to which both the English and Non-English speaking groups confused the instructions leading to one group missing their boarding passes. Secondly, in allocating the seating position, the airline staff would have responsibly allocated seats basing on the requirements of the passengers who had booked the flight and were in waiting to board on the flight to Australia. This would have sorted the issue of having to separate our family in different sitting positions, which resulted to the illness of my father shortly after the vacation as well as distress for the entire family. Thirdly, in addressing the first instance of discord on the plane, the airline staff would have practiced competence in ensuring that amongst their employees there were those that were fluent in common international languages such as Italian in order to avoid the delaying of the plane as they tried to calm the hysterical Italian passenger. By having staff fluent in the language, it would have resolved the issue quicker thus ensuring that the time line of the flight was met diligently.