Budget carrier Skymark Airlines has taken the unusual step of telling passengers not to expect too much help from its cabin crew teams during flights.
The Japanese airline has said its flight attendants are not obliged to help passengers stow their luggage before take-off, and do not have to be polite. Dealing with customer complaints should not be expected of cabin crew either, the airline has said.
Skymark Airlines put an eight-point ‘Service Concept’ notice aboard its aircraft in mid-May. According to press reports this has irritated the Tokyo Metropolitan Government, which has filed a complaint against the company. The notice spelt out that cabin crew would not accept complaints during the flight and that, instead, passengers needed to direct any grievances to public consumer centres.
The notice also stated that cabin crew would not help passengers stow their bags, that attendants were not required to use "polite language" when talking to customers, and that they were not there to attend to passengers, but rather to serve as safety personnel.
According to a report in the
Telegraph, the notice added: "We will not accept any complaints made on-board. In case a passenger does not understand that, we will ask the person to leave so that we can take off as scheduled. If passengers have complaints, we urge them to contact our customer service centre, the National Consumer Affairs Centre or other related agencies."
But the Consumer Affairs Agency in Tokyo said it "cannot condone an attitude of directing complaints about a company's services to public organisations".
The airline has this week said this week that is may review the notice, in the light of negative feedback. Skymark Airlines started service in September 1998, as a new venture for the aviation industry in Japan. Today the company serves approximately 4.4 million passengers per year with 27 aircrafts.
Photo:
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