No one likes missing their flight as it causes a lot of hassle and inconvenience. However, there are times where it’s 100% caused by one’s lateness or oversight.
A senior aide to prime minister Anwar Ibrahim recently took to social media to slam a local airline for not letting him board his flight 10 minutes before it took off, only to find himself on the receiving end of brickbats from netizens who didn’t buy his complaint.
Anwar’s aide barred from boarding flight 10 mins before takeoff
Taking to X (formerly known as Twitter) to gripe about the incident, Anwar’s senior political secretary Shamsul Iskandar Akin wrote that his Batik Air flight from Penang to KL was originally scheduled for 6.50pm but got delayed to 8pm.
At 7.45pm, Shamsul wrote that his name was called out and he arrived at the boarding gate at 7.50pm, only to discover that it was closed.
This is a form of mistreatment to customers and I hope Transport Minister Anthony Loke will take stern action,” he wrote.
‘You were the one who was late!’
Instead of garnering sympathy as what he’d hoped, what Shamsul got in return was widespread condemnation from netizens who were irked by his sense of entitlement.
‘According to SOP, the gate must be closed 10 minutes before takeoff for paperwork to be settled so that the flight isn’t delayed. This is embarrassing.’
‘If you’re late, just accept it. This isn’t a bus where you can still board it at 7.59pm before it leaves at 8pm.’
‘No need to mention (YB) Anthony’s name la. He has way more problems to handle.’
Flight delay caused by bad weather
FMT later reported that Batik Air CEO Chandran Rama Muthy responded to Shamsul’s posting with an apology, adding that the flight delay was caused by bad weather.
He said that the plane had to leave exactly at 8pm so that other passengers wouldn’t miss their connecting flights at KLIA.
Do you think Shamsul had the right to complain about his missed flight? Share with us in the comments!
READ ALSO:
