Unacceptable QF Communication, Mismanagement and Question on Customer Rights (QF1 23.12)

OP - be happy that your partner got on the ground safely.

I agree it would be frustrating but I believe some of these issues result from practical difficulties and miscommunication as between QF teams in Australia, local ground staff (who may not be QF employees), and/or QF duty and/or replacement crews. I am no champion of QF customer service (after all, I refer to QF customer service as "excuse generation team"), but as anyone who has been stranded at LHR due to fog knows that even at one of the world's biggest and busiest airports and perhaps the airline's own hub, all of the above frustrations would still arise ... let alone at AAN.

Ok so I have read all the feeds on this.

Let me tell you first-hand what it was like as I was on that flight and had to endure the delay and then the debacle at DBX when we finally got off the plane.

We were given no food while on the ground at Al Ain. I asked for a soft drink (I got a cup of water) and was told by the outgoing crew that they could not open the bar. When the new crew arrived, I watched them open everything and walk down the aisles with whatever food and drink they could lay their hands on.

The outgoing crew that had just worked 24 hours straight were not off loaded and sat with the passengers at the back of economy and had to endure the wait with the rest of us. The Captain & flight crew stayed and made sure we all arrived in DBX.

BUT... what was most upsetting was seeing a privileged few (who had set up camp in the upstairs lounge) who obviously knew the crew, being fed cheese and fruit while the rest of us go bottled water and pre-packaged croissant

We all knew that something was up because whilst waiting in the terminal at Al Ain our Qantas app started telling us we had new flight details.

DBX was a sham... an utter disgrace.... 100's of tired and hungry passenger and only 3 Qantas ground staff on hand. they were amazing and patient but clearly crumbing under the pressure of trying to find seats on planes and organise accommodation for not just QF1 but other cancelled QF flights.

Oh... and the luggage? I was in the EU for 7 days leaving on QF2 on the 30/12.... I got a phone call from BA Luggage on the evening of the 29th saying my bags had arrived and I could pick them up on the 30th. So, I did just that and walked them back across to terminal 3 and checked them back in for the flight home. (A flight that got diverted to Melbourne for fuel)

QF2 on 30/12 we recognised each other, reminisced on our QF1 flight and shared war stories of missing luggage and rebooked flights. The crew were brilliant making sure we were comfortable and looked after us as valuable customers.

Now I am off to spend a few hours trying to lodge my insurance claim for lost connecting flights, lost prepaid accommodation and meals and a claim for 7 days with no clothes.

I could be bitter and twisted and honestly did consider moving my loyalty but now I have had time to calm down and reflect on an adventure that I would not have had if it hadn't had been for the Dubai fog.... besides now I can say I have been to Al Ain :-)

I’ve been in the similar situation with SQ in Moscow. 7 hours on the ground in addition to 12 hours flight, missed connection to Sydney etc. SQ is blacklisted to me since that. I beleive it is normal to expect an airline care more for the passengers and also some form of compensation (business class upgrades and ff points). In my case non of these have been done. So I would tell about my experience as much as I can and avoid the airline.

Please let us know how it goes with compensation. Have you send them email/posted on social media?

I was on the QF2 flight out of LHR on the 23rd of December. We too were diverted from Dubai, due to the fog and the lack of fuel to be circling for the minimum 2.5 hours predicted. We went to DWC and sat on the tarmac for a number of hours before heading back to Dubai for the crew change and plane refueling etc. Our departure was delayed at Dubai for a couple of hours too, and we ended up landing about 6-7 hours late into Sydney on Christmas Day, the pilot/s on the Dubai -> Sydney leg making up as much time as they could.

I had a different experience to that of the OP's wife. Yes, it was a much shorter delay, but more importantly the communication from the Qantas flight deck crew and cabin crew was brilliant. We were constantly kept informed, on the approach to Dubai, when the decision to stop circling was made, while on the tarmac at DWC - where we got a fuel top-up - and as we finally arrived at Dubai. And that really does go a long way to appeasing passengers, even if the update is just to say they they don't know how much longer the delay will be. While we didn't get any food while on the tarmac at DWC (that I remember) we did get plenty of water. And the cabin crew of this short haul flight, were rapidly heading into long haul hours, but remained cheerful and helpful within the obvious constraints.

The delay at Dubai was not explained and that was a bit annoying, especially after the Qantas crew had been so good, but given the chaos with so many flights disrupted, it is not surprising in hindsight. I only saw one passenger acting out in frustration, and that was when going back through Dubai security when leaving. He was quickly shut down by other passengers because obviously it was not Dubai airport security's fault, and the outburst may have had more to do with the man being sprung attempting to bring a couple of bottles of duty free through in his cabin luggage. Bluster that didn't fool anyone, and totally unfair the the female security person who discovered the bottles.

The second leg, as mentioned, was as fast as they could make it, and we were again kept informed, including the news that the staff in Sydney were busy rescheduling ongoing flights for those who had missed connections. This being spoken of so early in the flight home was much appreciated and when on approach they listed the HUGE number of flights that were rescheduled, you knew that there were quite a number of staff in Sydney whose Xmas was being disrupted too.

Also to be noted, there were a number of passengers who were having to make overnight stays in Sydney or New Zealand due to not making their original connections. Qantas booked those passengers into hotels (and presumably paid for them) which, given the fog was well beyond their control, was probably not something that they had to do. As a VERY modest shareholder of Qantas stock, I totally approve of the way they dealt with this fraught situation. Passengers before profit.

And finally, after getting off the plane in Sydney, there were at least a dozen Qantas staff members at the gate ready to offer assistance.

I'm not sure that Qantas could have done any better.

Nice to see some repeated and recent news coverage on this “flight from hell”. Btw I’m still waiting for an apology from qantas.