Justin L
3rd October 2010, 02:58 AM
My mother arrived in the US last night via a VA codeshare DJ flight from ADL-SYD followed by VA1 to LAX, then a Southwest connection to LAS.
It was her first time flying internationally alone for over 10 years and she was nervous, but told me of her disappointment of the "disorganisation" of DJ/VA airport staff. Below is a brief recount of her transit.
ADL (Oct-1)
Arrived early at airport so no problems checking in. She was told to collect her SYD-LAX boarding pass at the transfer desk at SYD T2.
SYD (Oct-1)
Upon arrival at T2 she went to the transfer desk and was confronted by a long queue and it was then announced by VA staff that they were understaffed and that the international terminal bus was leaving so told passengers they could board and check in at T1.
My mother caught the bus as she would prefer to be in the correct terminal and was then confronted with long, slow lines at T1 for VA check-in. When she got to the front desk, she was also told they were understaffed there to, hence the delays.
(And the queues of SYD originating pax would be compounded by domestic connecting pax now lining up in the queue at T1)
When they went to give her her boarding pass, they realised that ADL airport staff had not given her her baggage stickers, so after 15 minutes of deliberation and checking it was cleared up and she could go through to departures.
Although having 3.5 hours transit in Sydney, she ended up having no time in T1 airside beyond going straight to her gate.
---
My question is this -
The VA flight was apparently full (or near full) as was the DJ/VA codeshare domestic connection (which of course also would have had non-VA connecting passengers). Without looking at the schedules, I am assuming that other domestic DJ/VA connecting flights would also arrive around the same time to connect to VA1, so the post-5pm arrivals would be the peak for VA connections at T2.
Why would they be understaffed on this day? Was the computer glitch a factor? I was excited to have my mother come here on VA (as it is one of the best airline experiences I have had) so was disappointed to hear "Sydney airport was a stuff up" when I greeted her at the airport here when she arrived.
This is not an attack on VA, I'm just curious whether the above is a true recollection of the day, and how such a situation could occur.
She goes back to ADL via MEL on VA, so it will be interesting to see how that compares.
It was her first time flying internationally alone for over 10 years and she was nervous, but told me of her disappointment of the "disorganisation" of DJ/VA airport staff. Below is a brief recount of her transit.
ADL (Oct-1)
Arrived early at airport so no problems checking in. She was told to collect her SYD-LAX boarding pass at the transfer desk at SYD T2.
SYD (Oct-1)
Upon arrival at T2 she went to the transfer desk and was confronted by a long queue and it was then announced by VA staff that they were understaffed and that the international terminal bus was leaving so told passengers they could board and check in at T1.
My mother caught the bus as she would prefer to be in the correct terminal and was then confronted with long, slow lines at T1 for VA check-in. When she got to the front desk, she was also told they were understaffed there to, hence the delays.
(And the queues of SYD originating pax would be compounded by domestic connecting pax now lining up in the queue at T1)
When they went to give her her boarding pass, they realised that ADL airport staff had not given her her baggage stickers, so after 15 minutes of deliberation and checking it was cleared up and she could go through to departures.
Although having 3.5 hours transit in Sydney, she ended up having no time in T1 airside beyond going straight to her gate.
---
My question is this -
The VA flight was apparently full (or near full) as was the DJ/VA codeshare domestic connection (which of course also would have had non-VA connecting passengers). Without looking at the schedules, I am assuming that other domestic DJ/VA connecting flights would also arrive around the same time to connect to VA1, so the post-5pm arrivals would be the peak for VA connections at T2.
Why would they be understaffed on this day? Was the computer glitch a factor? I was excited to have my mother come here on VA (as it is one of the best airline experiences I have had) so was disappointed to hear "Sydney airport was a stuff up" when I greeted her at the airport here when she arrived.
This is not an attack on VA, I'm just curious whether the above is a true recollection of the day, and how such a situation could occur.
She goes back to ADL via MEL on VA, so it will be interesting to see how that compares.