The Real Difference Shows When the Aircraft Doesn't Take Off

We have all heard about it, read about it, or, worse still, experienced it ourselves: that frustrating situation when, for one reason or another, our flight is severely delayed or does not depart at all.

In a matter of moments, passengers can find themselves in an extremely vulnerable position. And it makes a considerable difference whether there is someone they can turn to for help, or whether they are left to find a solution on their own – often at the cost of significant inconvenience and substantial, unexpected expenses.

And that is before we even consider the experiences lost, prepaid activities missed, meetings cancelled, or even an entire business trip disrupted.

It can happen to any airline, at any time. Weather, technical problems or other unforeseen circumstances may result in a significant delay or even the cancellation of a flight. Whether it is an ultra-low-cost carrier or a five-star premium airline, the airline itself may not necessarily be responsible for the disruption.

What it is very much responsible for, however, is how it manages the consequences, how it treats the affected passengers, and what solutions it offers them.

Over the past few years, the once considerable gap in service levels between low-cost and traditional airlines has gradually narrowed. Low-cost carriers now offer an increasing range of comfort and ancillary services – usually for an additional fee – while traditional airlines have adopted many practices originally associated with the low-cost model, such as charging separately for checked baggage or seat selection.

The biggest difference may not be in the air, but on the ground

It becomes particularly visible in the way an airline responds to its passengers during a disruption.

Does it offer a quick and effective solution? Does it provide continuous information? Does it organise onward travel, accommodation and transfers? Or are passengers largely left to arrange these things themselves and then try to recover their expenses afterwards?

From this perspective, European Union passenger-rights legislation does not distinguish between low-cost and traditional airlines. Passengers have the same basic rights regardless of the business model of the airline they choose.

In practice, however, there is another extremely important factor:

What resources does the airline have at its disposal to help its passengers and get them to their destination as quickly as possible?

We might call this its recovery capability – the airline's ability and capacity to respond to disruption and restore the journey.

Does a more expensive ticket mean greater security?

Not necessarily.

A low-cost airline may have an excellent and highly efficient disruption-management system, together with contracted ground partners capable of providing accommodation, transfers and other services when required. Equally, the customer-service operation of a traditional airline can become overwhelmed during a major disruption.

The real difference, therefore, is not necessarily the label attached to the airline. It lies in its available recovery capacity, contingency resources and the network of partners it can mobilise when something goes wrong: ground handling companies, other airlines, coach operators, hotels and other service providers.

Let me illustrate this with two examples from my own career.

Hundreds of passengers and an unexpected landing in Budapest

I was working as the Hungarian representative of a premium Asian airline when, one afternoon, I received a call from the airline's European headquarters. One of our Boeing 777 aircraft, carrying several hundred passengers, was about to make an unscheduled landing in Budapest because of a technical problem.

I immediately headed to the airport, while a small team from our Western European headquarters also set off for Budapest to assist with managing the situation.

The airline did not operate scheduled flights to Budapest at the time – and still does not today – so we did not have the full local partner infrastructure that would normally support daily operations. Our sales activity in Hungary was based on feeder flights connecting passengers to the airline's European hub.

I immediately contacted the duty manager of one of the ground handling companies. After landing, the passengers were transported by bus to the terminal while engineers began inspecting the aircraft.

It soon became clear that the aircraft would not be able to continue its journey that day.

The operation began.

We kept passengers continuously informed, speaking to them personally in the terminal. We were there among them while, with the assistance of the ground handler, we began arranging several hundred hotel rooms and the necessary coach transfers.

We managed to secure enough rooms in two centrally located hotels, one four-star and one five-star property. Every passenger received food and refreshments at the terminal, and once their baggage had been returned, boarding of the transfer buses began. By the evening, everyone had checked into their hotel room, where dinner was also provided.

Meanwhile, we learned that repairing the aircraft would take longer than initially expected. The airline therefore decided to send another Boeing 777 to Budapest during the night to collect the passengers. Departure was scheduled for the following morning.

During the night, we prepared a personalised letter for every passenger, apologising for the disruption and offering compensation. We printed the letters, delivered them to the hotels and slipped one under the door of every passenger's room.

The next morning, after breakfast at the hotels, the transfer buses collected the passengers and brought them back to the airport. The replacement aircraft had arrived in Budapest in the meantime, and the passengers were able to continue their journey without further difficulty.

After the incident, we received no letters of complaint.

We did, however, receive letters of thanks.

When a minor dent leaves 180 passengers stranded in Budapest

On another occasion, I was working as the Hungarian country manager of a Middle Eastern airline, leading our own team of around forty employees, including sales and finance staff as well as airport operations colleagues.

One of our arriving aircraft was parked at its stand when a ground handling water-service vehicle accidentally struck it.

There was no serious damage – only a relatively small dent – but in aviation, that is a no-go situation. Until the necessary inspection and repair had been completed, the aircraft could not depart.

We immediately had to find a solution for approximately 180 passengers who had already checked in for the outbound flight.

Following our established procedures, our team began organising assistance and keeping passengers informed. We booked coaches, contacted our contracted hotel partners and started securing the necessary number of rooms. Six to eight members of our team remained among the passengers at all times, personally updating them on developments.

For those whose travel was particularly urgent – some were travelling to a funeral, others to a wedding or an important business meeting – as well as those who simply did not want to spend another night in Budapest, our colleagues searched for available seats on other airlines, including connecting itineraries where necessary.

As a result, several dozen passengers reached their destination that same day, albeit a few hours later than originally planned.

We helped the remaining passengers retrieve their baggage, and by the time they had finished, the transfer buses were already waiting. Dinner and breakfast the following morning were provided at the hotels. We also made separate arrangements for passengers with special dietary requirements.

That evening, however, we faced another challenge: the following morning's scheduled flight would effectively have to accommodate passengers from two flights.

Instead of operating the scheduled narrow-body aircraft, I therefore requested a wide-body aircraft with approximately 400 seats from our headquarters. With some adjustments to the airline's network, this was made possible.

At dawn, as we always did in such situations, my colleagues and I were present at all the hotels. We helped passengers board the buses and made sure that everyone was accounted for. At the airport, we arranged double check-in capacity and doubled the number of staff on duty.

As a result, we were able to process more than 300 passengers quickly and smoothly.

The story even had an unexpected positive ending: for many passengers, it was their first opportunity to travel on a large wide-body aircraft of the type our airline normally operated on long-haul routes.

There is a second price – and value – hidden in every airline ticket

When we buy an airline ticket, we are effectively purchasing not one, but two services.

The first is obvious: transportation from A to B according to the original plan and published schedule, together with the basic and additional services we have purchased.

The second becomes visible only when something goes wrong:

problem-solving.

What happens when the original plan can no longer be delivered because of an unexpected disruption?

How quickly do we receive information? Are we automatically rebooked? Is there another flight available that same day? Could another airport be used? Can we travel with another airline? What happens to our connecting flight? Will accommodation and transfers be arranged? And ultimately, how much of the problem are passengers expected to solve themselves?

These are questions we rarely think about when purchasing an airline ticket.

Yet the real difference in service between airlines may become most visible precisely when the aircraft does not take off.