No need to panic. Really. If you're facing a similar situation, the questions you should ask are, "what really is happening?", "what are my entitlements?" and "what are my rights?"
So Tiger caused abit of a drama when TR
2105 was delayed for 12 hours
last week. It was supposed to take off at 2.25pm on May 30 but it didn't, and
passengers were kept waiting on the plane for five hours. They were released
back into the airport, where many proceeded to wait for another seven hours,
before the plane finally took off at 2.30am local time.
Passengers said they were promised overnight accommodation should
the wait cross 12am, but nothing happened because "Singapore side did
not do anything", said the CNA article.
An InSing
report quoted Tiger's statement which said "passengers were kept
informed throughout the delay" and "Our team offered affected
passengers transfers to our other flights. Some passengers chose to stay with
the flight."
One question you may ask is, if passengers were offered transfers
to other flights, why didn't they take it? Tiger has five flights to Bangkok on
Wednesdays, which means that passengers could choose to transfer to TR 2113 at
6pm and TR 2109 at 8.05pm. However, they were kept on the tarmac for five
hours, which meant to say, there was no way they could even make the 8.05pm
flight.
Anyway, so obviously a plane fault caused the delay, and Tiger's handling
of the situation was, as usual, lacklustre and disappointing. However, I think
any airline would not want to be caught in such a situation, because every
delay means all sorts of additional costs incurred, and they'd want for more
than anyone else, to have flights take off on time.
I personally have been involved in a Jetstar delay. Plane landed at Bangkok airport, passengers disembarked, boarding didn't happen for the longest time, pilot announced a hydraulic fault, repairs had to be carried out, not sure when it would be ready, then the entire crew left because it was past their legal working hours.
Passengers panicked, yelled at poor ground staff for answers, for which of course they didn't have. After an arduous wait, accommodation was arranged, passports had to be re-stamped for entry back into Bangkok. By the time the bus arrived at a ridiculous hotel, it was near 6am. It had been a 9-hour wait.
As there was no news of the new departure timing, people kept hounding hotel receptionists. Finally we were told to gather at 2pm for a 4pm departure. Flight arrived back in Singapore around 8pm.
Throughout the entire event, I only called the call centre to ask for transfers, but was told flights were full. Other one way flights were exorbitantly expensive, so I did not buy a new ticket. I wasn't in a hurry, and I knew I would be able to get home, just a matter of time.
Things NOT to do when a flight is delayed:
1. Get angry and yell at ground staff, because they are 'contractors' and 90% of the time they know as much as passengers do
2. Start panicking, make negative comments about the airline loudly, such as "I shouldn't have taken this stupid airline" - but you did
3. Insist you need to get home by the end of the day because someone is waiting for you to complete important matters - every affected passenger feels the same too
4. Create a nuisance by insisting to speak to an airline staff - budget airlines (most) do not have representative staff outside of their home ports, so don't bother
5. Contact call centre - they usually have no idea what's going on, other than official information
What you SHOULD do when a flight is delayed:
1. Keep your eyes opened and ears peeled for information, ask ground staff nicely if they know something that has not been broadcasted
2. If it's still early in the day, and you know there are other flights coming in, request for transfers immediately
3. If it is the last or 2nd last flight, request for information on accommodation options
4. Go big on social media - post on FB and twitter, tag airline's accounts and the media, seek help to RT posts asap, spam if need be
5. Request for drinks and meal vouchers politely
6. Call home and let family members know flight is delayed and you will keep them informed on new developements
Generally, all airlines have a delay recovery SOP, it's just the execution that sometimes falls wayward, and communication which breaks down somewhere somehow.
Also, most travel insurance policies cover flight delays, so you should be decently compensated should the situation happen, if you're covered
