SAA connection missed

My wife, Diane, and I took the “Africa Safari” with the “Best of Cape Town” extension from Road Scholar (Boston, MA; 800/454-5768), Oct. 24-Nov. 8, 2012. We were booked to return home on South African Airways (SAA) from Cape Town to Johannesburg and from there to New York’s JFK Airport on Nov. 8.

We checked in in Cape Town at about 2 p.m. for our scheduled 4:45 p.m. flight, which was supposed to connect with our overseas flight in Johannesburg departing at 8:30.

First, there was a weather delay, with the flight time pushed back to 5:30 p.m. At 5:35, after five to 10 minutes for preferred-passenger boarding, Diane and I boarded the bus for the plane. Afterward, the captain made an announcement that a passenger on the manifest was not on board and we might have to deplane and unload the luggage. Fifteen minutes later it was announced that it had been a paperwork problem. We departed at 6:10 p.m.

After takeoff, I asked the stewardess if my wife and I could be among the first to deplane due to the tight connection and because our seats were near the rear of the aircraft. I was advised not to worry because all the Johannesburg flights were delayed due to weather. This was not true, I later learned. 

No onboard announcements were made as to what gates the connecting flights were departing from.

We landed, and it was not until after everyone was up and the aisle was full that there was an announcement asking people to let connecting passengers deplane first. By the time we got off the plane, the first passenger bus was full; we had to wait for the second bus. Diane and I arrived at the Johannesburg domestic terminal at approximately 8:20 p.m. 

No one from SAA met offloading passengers, and we found the directional signage to the international terminal to be poor. We ran, cleared passport control and made a run for Gate C9, the last gate, arriving at 8:30. The plane was at the gate, but the jetway door was closed.

We, along with 10 other passengers from the Cape Town flight, asked to be boarded. The SAA supervisor was not helpful and said the airline would be fined if the departure window were missed. It was clear that no one from SAA had called the gate to let them know that 12 passengers were running to get on the flight.

We were told to reclaim our luggage and rebook our flights. The supervisor took us to a South African Airways counter and left us with an agent, who was not able to help us.

We were very fortunate that, at 8:40, Sanda Taele appeared. He said he was from iHELP (Airports Company South Africa). With his help over the next few hours, the 12 of us reclaimed our bags (this took 2½ hours) and each got hotel vouchers, meal vouchers and vouchers for two 3-minute international calls.

We also attempted to book our flights for the next day. However, SAA said we would have to return on Nov. 9 seven hours prior to the 8:30 p.m. flight and rebook at their main ticket counter.

The first bus to the Garden Court Hotel arrived packed with passengers and there was no room for Diane and me. By the time it came around again and dropped us off at the hotel, it was 11:30 p.m., the restaurant was closed and Internet service was down. (We would rate the hotel, itself, a one- or two-star, at best.)

I called my daughter in the US, who notified Road Scholar that we had been stranded. They secured seats for us on the next day’s flight, and my daughter emailed me the seat assignments. However, the next day, when we arrived at the ticket counter at 2 p.m., the SAA agents seemed to be unaware of Road Scholar’s actions and we had to rebook on our own. It took about 15 minutes for them to assign us seats.  

The weather delay was not the reason we missed our connecting flight. We easily lost 30 minutes from the other delays.

SAA could have handled the whole matter in a much better fashion. For example, there is a hotel at the airport — no need for a bus, and we would have had an opportunity to eat dinner, not to mention being closer to the ticket office for rebooking.

We believe SAA should acknowledge their lack of professional service and give us appropriate compensation.

DAVID EARL

Westford, MA

Mr. Earl wrote to South African Airways (SAA) on Dec. 12, 2012. On Jan. 23, 2013, he called SAA and it was suggested he send an email to saacustomerservice@flysaa.com, which he did. In an email on Jan. 28, he was told that SAA was investigating the matter. 

Mr. Earl wrote to ITN on March 1 and ITN wrote to SAA. SAA subsequently forwarded to ITN a copy of their March 20 reply to Mr. Earl, which stated the following: “On behalf of South African Airways, I would like to share with you my sincere apologies for the inconvenience you and your wife endured due to the delay of SA354 on 08 November 2012 from Cape Town… .

“According to our investigations with our office in Cape Town, it is advised that SA354 was delayed for a total of one hour and 18 minutes (sic): 46 minutes due to bad weather in Johannesburg , 10 minutes due to air traffic congestion and 21 minutes was for a VIP who was boarded instead of being offloaded.

“We have noted the manner in which you were treated and the attitude that you received from our staff members from O.R. Tambo International Airport and view this shortfall in a serious light… . The inadequate level of service you received is unacceptable and will not be condoned nor tolerated… . Kindly accept and convey our sincere apologies to your wife for the inconvenience caused… .

TRACY NDLOVU, Airways Customer Services Agent (Oper)., Customer Service, South African Airways, O.R. Tambo International, Johannesburg, South Africa