Airport carry-on is bag of woe for ripped-off flyer
Traveller’s dream trip ruined by pillaged luggage
IT was Natalie Munien’s first visit home after leaving South Africa 10 years ago. Thanks to SAA, it was close to being her last.
The teenager’s holiday memories soured after her unlocked hand luggage was inexplicably taken from her when she was travelling back to New Zealand. When it was returned to her, two boxed gifts were gone and her cellphone charger had been ripped apart.
The removal of Munien’s carry-on bag by an airline representative happened in January at OR Tambo International Airport in the final “tunnel” leading to the plane’s entrance.
Not only had the 19-year-old had the same bag on board when flying to Johannesburg with SAA two months earlier, she’d sailed through airline check-in, the security checkpoint and the boarding gate on the return leg without any problems.
And for good reason: the bag, small and light with wheels, was well within cabin specifications. And it was the sole piece of hand luggage she’d been carrying on her return flight; she didn’t even have a handbag with her.
At the time, Munien wasn’t given any explanation why, at the last minute, her bag was deemed the incorrect size.
When she and her Durbanbased sister-in-law, Zoe Venter, complained to me recently, they were both still in the dark.
Venter had complained to the Airports Company South Africa just days after the incident, and was immediately told it was an SAA problem. SAA said it needed 21 days to respond due to a system upgrade. BITTERSWEET REUNION: Natalie Munien, left, came to SA to spend time with family, including sister-in-law Zoe Venter, right
When the airline eventually came back to Venter, it said the matter had been assigned for investigation. Nearly a month later, after hearing nothing, Venter called and threatened media exposure if the theft wasn’t addressed.
She was then told it was an Acsa problem and advised to report the theft to the police, a classic case of passing the buck.
Said Munien: “I would like to know from SAA why there was someone inspecting baggage at that late stage. We go through several checkpoints long before stepping on the plane. If my bag was not permitted on the airline, I would not have got that far.”
The trainee hairdresser from Auckland was stopped by a “security guard” holding bag tags just as she was about to board the Perth-bound flight.
“He said my bag was not the right size and that I couldn’t take it on board and would have to pick it up in Perth. I asked for an explanation, but he just repeated the same thing,” she said. The tag she was given wasn’t properly filled in; only the flight details were included.
Munien, who boarded the flight with nothing other than her cellphone and passport, asked a flight attendant where she should collect the removed bag. She was told she’d find it on the luggage carousel in Perth.
However, because Munien was in transit to Auckland, she was unable to access the baggage area in Perth, and nobody came to her assistance on landing, despite her requests for help.
After several frantic phone calls to her family and Flight Centre in New Zealand, arrangements were made for the bag to be transferred by SAA to her connecting Air New Zealand flight to Auckland.
When she finally got the bag back, her iPhone charger was smashed, and a new diamanté key ring and watch, bought as CROSSING A LINE: The bag was checked through by the ticketing desk and security, then disallowed outside the plane door — and opened and stolen from while in transit
I definitely won’t use SAA again. I would rather use a different airline, no matter what the cost
RANSACKED: Munien’s bag was missing some of its contents after going through SAA’s hands gifts, were gone.
“It has put me off coming back to South Africa, and I definitely won’t use SAA again,” said Munien.
“I have found a route which will take me straight to Durban. I would rather use a different airline, no matter what the cost. Flight Centre was not surprised at all by my story, so that alone says it all.”
I asked Acsa and SAA for feedback. Acsa’s Colin Naidoo responded first, saying the incident involved an airline representative, not an Acsa official.
“Hand luggage weight limi- tations on an aircraft are managed and enforced by airline operators, not airport management staff,” said Naidoo. “We find the reported incident highly regrettable and view it in a very serious light. One bag pilfered in our airports is one bag too many.”
He said that had the bag been removed from the customer “via the normal checkpoints”, it would have gone to the aircraft via the loading bridge and been stored in the hold.
He said one of the measures to prevent theft had been the formation of a “baggage reaction unit” to investigate baggage pilferage.
“We will continue to work with SAA and our airline partners to establish more proactive measures so that our staff, be it airline or airport staff, are fully updated on these processes and measures to avoid a recurrence of such incidents.”
SAA was much slower to respond. When it did, it shed little light on the matter.
Said spokesman Tlali Tlali: “We have decided to initiate an investigation into the matter to determine whether or not a complaint was filed with SAA following the incident; whether or not an incident report was generated after the complaint was received; why contact was not made with the complainant after the complaint was registered; what the circumstances that could have led to inconsistent application of rules or service failure were; and what steps ought to have been taken and will be taken leading to the resolution of this matter.”
So, in a nutshell, the airline doesn’t have a clue what happened. Either that, or it’s just not willing to say.
In the interim, Tlali has apologised for the “unpleasant travel experience” and promised to contact Munien. “SAA views pilferage in a very serious light and would not hesitate to take stern action against any of its staff members who collude with those behind such behaviour,” he said.
“There are airline procedures currently in place . . . Noncompliance with these measures is a serious act of misconduct.”
My advice to travellers caught in a similar situation with an unlocked bag: demand an explanation from a senior manager, and if all else fails, insist on holding on to any valuables.
Tune in to Power FM 98.7’s ‘Power Breakfast’ at 8.50am tomorrow to hear more from Megan
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