[AlexanderT]

Here is the letter I received from Aegean. I share my comments at the end.

=====================

Dear AlexanderT,
 
Thank you for giving us the time to thoroughly investigate the reported incident, which is, first and foremost, shared with our Flight Operation Director.
 
As you may probably verify, through your significant travel experience with us, your detailed report came to us, as a surprise. Please allow me, at this point, to confirm that this is the first and the only time we ever received such comments for one of our Commanders or Cabin Crew members.
 
Without any doubt, your willingness to report this event implies a sincere and genuine interest towards our company, which is highly appreciated. Immediately after receiving your email, our Safety and Security Department were alerted on this matter. Our colleagues are perfectly capable of conducting a detailed investigation and take all crucial actions needed, so that this incident remains isolated.
 
Mr AlexanderT, we do sincerely apologize for this occurrence, while you can rest assured that any kind of practice against our standards, that jeopardizes the reputation we have earned shall not be tolerated. It is needless to mention, especially to a valuable supporter of Aegean, such as you, that the education and continuing trainings, as well as the evaluation of our Staff, are of the utmost importance for all Aegean company.
 
By all means, we desire and seek systematically to continuously monitor all areas of our operations, always aiming not only to meet your expectations but to anticipate and exceed them. Hence would like to thank you, once more, for your time and valuable feedback.
 
I always remain at your disposal for any further correspondence in future.
 
Yours Sincerely,
Senior Member of Staff

===========

My comments

The letter is written carefully without naming which “kind of practice” goes against their standards. Is it:
– the open cockpit?
– that (two) passengers had access to the front lavatory while the cockpit door was open and unattended?
– that the captain acted aggressively at the end?

The letter clearly does not rule out the first two, especially when the “Safety and Security Department were alerted on this matter”. The company could have said that everything during that flight, maybe except the intimidating manners of the pilot, abided by their regulations (even if it didn’t). But the letter doesn’t sound like that.

I view the letter as confirming my initial concern that something was not right even though Aegean, perhaps not unexpectedly, doesn’t give out more details.

Your comments? Would you follow up trying to extract more information?

[Alsacienne]

“”Would you follow up trying to extract more information?””

I wouldn’t. You’ve alerted the company to what you saw. They replied, and have said that they will investigate and act on what you told them.

What more do you want to learn? Surely it’s case closed?

[MartynSinclair]

What interests me about the response was there was no comment about you using film to record the incident, which is what I recall set the Captain off on his tirade.

I think you can take from the response that the firm intends dealing with its own laundry in private.

[MrMichael]

I don’t think anything to gain to follow this up further. The letter is written carefully not to admit actually what was wrong, but to state that your concerns were taken seriously and investigated. Whatever action may be taken against the crew member, rightly, they will not be sharing that with you. I think you have got a good result, taken seriously and the crew member (reading between the lines) dealt with.

[DavidSmith2]

I agree with those who advise to leave the matter now as I think this is as good as you will get.

Aegean do not actually admit that anything was wrong – simply that they took your concerns seriously and would act if there were something wrong. Reading between the lines, I reach the same conclusion as MrMichael in terms of what action they may have taken.

[KarlMarx]

Let me translate this letter from Airline to English.

Dear AlexanderT, #Dear credit card holder#

Thank you for giving us the time to thoroughly investigate the reported incident, which is, first and foremost, shared with our Flight Operation Director. #We all had a good laugh at your note#

As you may probably verify, through your significant travel experience with us, your detailed report came to us, as a surprise. Please allow me, at this point, to confirm that this is the first and the only time we ever received such comments for one of our Commanders or Cabin Crew members. #No other idiot has had the brass neck to make such a stupid complaint#

Without any doubt, your willingness to report this event implies a sincere and genuine interest towards our company, which is highly appreciated. Immediately after receiving your email, our Safety and Security Department were alerted on this matter. Our colleagues are perfectly capable of conducting a detailed investigation and take all crucial actions needed, so that this incident remains isolated. #You probably suffer from OCD and our colleagues are perfectly capable of investigating, but they are not going to waste their efforts, especially after the flight captain said you are a bit of a ****#

Mr AlexanderT, we do sincerely apologize for this occurrence, while you can rest assured that any kind of practice against our standards, that jeopardizes the reputation we have earned shall not be tolerated. It is needless to mention, especially to a valuable supporter of Aegean, such as you, that the education and continuing trainings, as well as the evaluation of our Staff, are of the utmost importance for all Aegean company. #We would like you to keep bankrolling us#

By all means, we desire and seek systematically to continuously monitor all areas of our operations, always aiming not only to meet your expectations but to anticipate and exceed them. Hence would like to thank you, once more, for your time and valuable feedback. #We are professionals, who know what is going on in our business, unlike you#

I always remain at your disposal for any further correspondence in future. #Please don’t contact us, we’ll contact you#

Yours Sincerely,
Senior Member of Staff

#Yours insincerely, junior clerk#

I encourage you to write again and share the response 🙂

[EU_Flyer]

KarlMarx – 29/05/2016 17:35 BST

Sadly for the OP, you’re pretty much spot on.

Airlines need to write these letters to be seen to be doing something when they receive complaints about operational procedures that the complainant probably knows nothing about.

In fairness to the OP, there is nothing wrong with writing in and sharing a view on a point of concern. But personally, I’d well and truly drop the issue now and leave it to the airline management gods to sort out, rather than seeking further clarity / extracting further information etc.

The airline is not going to expose itself (or waste its time) by engaging further with the OP on a matter of internal operations – particularly in relation to the actions of a Captain who has full legal responsibility for the safety and operation of the aircraft in flight (see ICAO Rules of the Air Annex 2) following years of training and experience.

I hope the airline does speak with the Captain in question – if only to make him aware that his actions are subject to public observation, even if they need not ordinarily be subject to public scrutiny.

[SimonS1]

Waste of time pursuing it further. Your word against theirs and nothing will ever happen.

[LuganoPirate]

I also agree, don’t waste more time. You’ve had an answer, even if it’s KarlMarx’s interpretation. I’d say you now have two choices.

Continue to fly them and see if things have improved.
Vote with your wallet and fly someone else.

[EU_Flyer]

I fly Aegean at least once a month and have found their safety and service culture to be world class.

Sure, Greek men – especially those with Demi-God status like Captains or ‘Commanders’ – can be arrogant (hence his reaction at being filmed which he would have seen as an attempt to undermine his authority), but in general Aegean have excellent flight/cabin and ground crew and are a far cry from the old days of Olympic where the refuellers had a hose in one hand and a lit Marlboro in the other.

[Author]

Posts