- Entries -

No care in customer care with Air Berlin

Summary

Airlines all over Europe are proclaiming how zealous they have been in looking after their passengers over the past days. Yet well do we all know that many European airlines have behaved in a quite despicable manner towards their customers.

Airlines all over Europe are proclaiming how zealous they have been in looking after their passengers over the past days. Yet well do we all know that many European airlines have behaved in a quite despicable manner towards their customers.

Air Berlin today offers a revealing case study on how not to treat passengers. While some airlines have upped the number of personnel in their call centres, Air Berlin has simply stopped answering phone calls altogether. A message calmly announces that flights are pretty well back on schedule and that passengers should travel to the airport as normal.

The reality is that 14 of the airline’s 23 departures from Berlin Tegel this afternoon are definitely cancelled. Assisting a neighbour booked on the 5.25 pm flight for Copenhagen, we looked at Air Berlin’s website for her. Sure enough the afternoon flight to Copenhagen is cancelled. Air Berlin kindly offer an alternative, suggesting that if passengers make their own way to Vienna, they could be accommodated on a 5.50 pm flight to Copenhagen operated by Fly NIKI.

Now we may be simple souls, but quite how would-be travellers could ever possibly reach Vienna in time for that flight is quite beyond us. It is a ten hour train journey from Berlin to Vienna. Our neighbour opted instead to travel from Berlin by direct train to Copenhagen – it is an easy seven hour journey.

Air Berlin has buttoned down the hatches and declines to speak with its customers. “Let’s pretend all is normal” is a curious corporate communication policy and an utterly reprehensible approach to customer care. To offer an alternative flight from Vienna to travellers wanting to fly from Berlin is the very height of cynicism. And, of course, there is not a word on the company’s website about refunds for passengers who continue to be so sorely inconvenienced by Air Berlin.

Nicky Gardner and Susanne Kries
(hidden europe)

Related article

Marking Time: New Train Services for 2020

The hidden europe award for ingenuity in creating new European rail travel opportunities is awarded to Austria's state rail operator, Österreichische Bundesbahnen (ÖBB). We look at what ÖBB will offer anew for 2020, and examine too what's new on the rails in Russia, Germany and elsewhere across Europe.

Related article

Making Tracks for Sweden

As winter slipped slowly into spring in 1917, Lenin passed through Berlin on his journey back to Russia from Switzerland. His onward route from Berlin took him by train to Sassnitz, then on by ferry to Trelleborg in Sweden. These days it's still possible to follow the route taken by Lenin, using the occasional direct trains from Berlin to Sweden.

Related article

At the water's edge: Germany's Wadden Sea

Within just a few centuries, the geography of the Frisian region has been reshaped by storms and tides. Paul Scraton is a regular writer for hidden europe; here he explores Germany’s Wadden Sea coastline. It’s a tale that shows the power of the sea.