EGYPTAIR News 20 feb 2015

‫اجلمعة‬ ‫‪ 20‬فبراير‪2015‬‬

http://www.jaunted.com Why One Kind Gesture from Lufthansa Sealed This Woman's Loyalty for Life

In the spirit of New Years' Resolutions, we chose to be filled with love and light when it comes to airlines. So instead of focusing on the terrible TSA theater, the crappy meals served in-flight, the nickel-and-diming onboard, the exasperated attitudes at the gate or the rampant idiocy in the baggage claim, we're focusing on airlines and flight attendants doing it right. This week, longtime Jaunted contributor Julia Buckley tells us how, if you're traveling with special needs, she has nothing but love for Lufthansa.

I am a frequent flier. I also have a chronic pain condition. It isn’t an easy combination.

Longhaul flights are horrendous for me, for obvious reasons, but even shorthaul is a struggle – from dealing with luggage to being confined in a seat with no space to stretch and other passengers knocking into bits and pieces of me that are viciously hypersensitive. Even a flight of under an hour, if it’s a bad one, can put me out of commission for days afterwards.

I’m very careful when I fly to choose the best possible seat for my condition, book assistance, and do everything possible to make things as pain-free as they can be. Part of that is asking, wherever possible, if there’s a seat on the plane that has an empty space next to it. Some airlines, like UK regional airline Flybe, are compassionate, and block out an entire row, if it’s available.

Others, like my national carrier British Airways, tell me to go swivel.

In January, I flew with Lufthansa for the first time – from Zagreb to Heathrow, via Munich. The Zagreb-Munich flight was operated by Air Dolomiti, and it was amazing – great legroom, wide seats, lovely cabin crew, and a half empty plane to spread out in.

http://www.jaunted.com (continue) Assistance at Munich was also excellent. Nevertheless, just taking the first flight had ramped up my pain levels.

For the Munich-London flight, I was traveling with a friend, and we had booked an A and a C seat, in the hope that the B would remain empty and I could spread out. It was not to be – at checkin in Zagreb (as an aside - if you need special assistance when traveling, never, EVER fly via Zagreb), we were told the plane was overbooked.

At the gate, I asked again whether there was any seat on the plane with an empty middle seat, and again was told no, it was full. I thought I would try – just try – to mention it to the cabin crew, in case there were no-shows.

I must have been visibly in pain when I pre-boarded and spoke to the purser (he was called Guggenmos, I think). I know it’s a full flight, I said, but if anyone doesn’t show and it frees up a seat, I would love some extra space. “There are seven free seats on this flight,” he said immediately. “So let’s try and do something. What exactly do you need?”

I explained that with a bad right arm, I needed my right side to be untouched. Currently, I was in the aisle, in a C seat, but that risked it being bumped by people walking by. Ideally, I said, I’d be in an A seat, with the B seat free, and my friend in the C seat.

“Oh!” he chirped. “You’re traveling with a friend? This should be easy.”

There were seven middle seats available, he explained. He didn’t see why the person in 31B, with us, wouldn’t mind moving to, say, 24B, or 14B, or 7B. “If you can wait till we close the doors, I will sort this,” he said.

http://www.jaunted.com

(continue) Everyone boarded, including 31B. The doors were closed. The purser was nowhere to be seen. “Cabin crew, seats for takeoff,” the pilot said. I closed my eyes, and tried to meditate through the pain. Then I felt a hand on my shoulder.

As we were starting to taxi, the purser had come over to fulfill his promise. He explained the situation to my neighbor and asked whether he might be prepared to move, once the seatbelt signs were off. Turns out, mine was the kind of plane neighbor you can only dream of. He agreed to move immediately, and asked if I was ok. The minute we’d reached cruising altitude, he leapt up, and very kindly moved. He even wished me a pleasant flight. I swapped to 31A and my friend took 31C. Without tensing it to keep it out of the aisle, my arm immediately started to feel better.

A couple of minutes later, the purser was back to see how I was doing, and to ask if he could do anything else (I said upgrade my former neighbor – he promised he would “give him something”, which I hope was a seat in business class).

He checked in again with the drinks trolley. And again before landing. In the two years that I've been flying with special

assistance, nobody on any airline has ever shown me this much kindness.

I told him this as we disembarked at Heathrow. “But it’s our job to make you comfortable!” he said. “As long as there is a spare seat, we will do everything we can to help you. It is our job.”

http://www.jaunted.com

(continue)

I’m not sure it’s actually their job to move passengers around to accommodate someone in pain. I do know that no cabin crew on any other airline, ever, has done anything of the kind for me (and I ask the question every time I fly). I know, of course, that they have no obligation to put themselves – and fellow passengers – out, by doing this for me. But I also know that this one small gesture of kindness has made me want to fly everywhere with Lufthansa, always and forever.

Kindness is something that usually falls by the wayside in the airline industry. I understand that: people are stressed, flights are full, why should I take a minute to block a seat or see if people might be prepared to play musical chairs, to help one silly passenger who says her arm hurts? Equally, if you’re the guy sitting next to me – this is your seat. Why should you move?

But a little humanity goes a long, long way. Lufthansa, and Lufthansa passengers – you are a class act.

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