Back Story
At the end of our holiday in Singapore back in September – October this year I had a minor set back with Scoot on the return leg of the trip.
As a bigger guy I sometimes find it uncomfortable squeezing into the tiny seat belts on planes. I don’t have problems with the seat size, just the seat belt.
On asking a flight attendant if they could supply a seat belt extension for the return trip so I could be more comfortable I was met with befuddled looks. Shortly followed by an airline operations man coming onto the plane to announce that they would have to offload my bags and me because it was unsafe for me to fly.
Giving in I put on the seat belt without any assistance and as uncomfortable as it was, I put up with it until we were at cruising altitude.
On arrival back in Sydney I lodged a complaint with the airline as there was no offering of assistance nor was there any regard for the embarrassment of the whole situation on the plane.
Ultimately what happens when you’re too big to get the seatbelt on? What alternatives do you have and what can the airline do to help?
The Investigation
Scoot were fast to announce they would investigate the matter and get back to me.
Well a month later I finally have an email back from them.
Dear Mr. Moore,
We hope this letter finds you well
First off, allow us to express our sincere apologies on the recent service experience that you had.
Your issue has been raised to the relevant department for further handling and review, and the concerned staff were given proper counseling and were advised to be more careful and polite in exercising their duties. Rest assured, the management will look more closely in the service delivery of all our staff.
On the other hand, we wish to inform you that we are currently waiting for the delivery of the extension seat belts. As per current guidelines, crew are to offer a complimentary upgrade to ScootBiz if seat is available.
Nevertheless, your feedback is vital to us. Reading your email, we recognize that there are opportunities to improve our customer experience. You can be assured that this is a work in progress and is on top of our list.
We appreciate your time and patience. Our sincere apologies for the inconvenience.
Sincerely,
Kent
The Scoot Team
Let’s hope that in the future people will have more options than being threatened with an offloading.
I’m glad that Scoot have made peace with the fact that larger people need to fly too and are making progress to improve the situation.