Passenger Letters

Good day, SA Express

As a fairly regular flyer it is indeed a pity that my business does not take me more frequently to destinations that are serviced by SA Express. Once a quarter I travel from Port Elizabeth to Durban, and I have to tell you that these four trips annually are the highlight of my travel for the year. You may ask why this is. Well, it’s simple.

The professional flight crew and highly competent and friendly cabin attendants I encountered on my most recent flight on SA Express once again confirmed my feelings that operating smaller aircraft with a smaller, more focussed crew provides a far more personal experience for the passenger. In fact, it feels like you are on your own charter jet!

The CEO’s letter in the August edition of Indwe, titled “Good Customer Service is Good Business”, about sums it up. Here, Mr Xaba talks about “satisfaction being top priority” and about “getting back to basics in daily operations”.

Satisfaction is multi-faceted, and extends from the minute one boards the aircraft and receives the welcome smile and assistance to your seat, to the minute you disembark and once gain receive the greeting, “Goodbye and enjoy your day.” So many things can go wrong between these two points in time, but by simply doing the basics right as mentioned by the Acting CEO, SA Express Flight Crew and Cabin Staff most certainly, from my point of view, excel time and time again.

So, Mr Xaba, rest assured, your staff are on the right track and support your drive for operational excellence, as well as repositioning of the airline. Wishing you further success, and keep up the good work.

Thank you and kind regards, Stan Bezuidenhout Congratulations to Stan Bezuidenhout who wrote our winning letter this month, and walks away with a 55 cm Samsonite Cosmolite suitcase valued at R6,495.

Good day

I would like to compliment your ground staff and, in particular, your flight attendant Shouness on two occasions recently.

The first, the evening flight from Johannesburg to Richards Bay, was delayed by four hours. Although the ground staff explained about the delay, a group of agitated passengers demanded to speak to the airline manager. The two ground staff handled the situation effectively and efficiently with their polite and professional approach and speedily pacified the agitated passengers – in fact, they were even on friendly terms by the end. My most recent – and 50th – flight with SA Express was made even special by the smiling, swift, passionate, proactive and exemplary service provided by your flight attendant Shouness throughout the flight.

The ground staff and cabin crew are the two direct contacts with the airline’s customers and their actions can therefore result in either dissatisfied or delighted customers.

In his CEO letter in the August edition of Indwe, Mr Xaba emphasised: “Good customer service is good business.”

These two outstanding actions by your staff prove that this customer service not only exists in theory, but is also practised by SA Express professionally and personally.

I am looking forward to flying again with my favourite SA Express soon.

With Best Regards, Subramanian Saravanan

Do You Have Something to Say?

Let us know what is on your mind by sending an email to customercare@flyexpress.aero.

Letters may be edited, shortened or translated from their original language.

The writer of the winning letter in the October edition of Indwe will receive a Samsonite Flux 55 cm spinner suitcase valued at R2,699.

Experience Flux, the next generation of zipped polypropylene cases and Samsonite’s first hardside range offering hidden expandability on all sizes, assuring even greater packing volume. This collection was designed to make travelling easier thanks to its smooth-rolling double wheels, double-tube wheel handle and fully lined practical interior in which to arrange your belongings. The Flux range is available in black, navy, ocean blue and tangerine red from Samsonite stores and online from www.houseofsamsonite.co.za. For more information, follow @HouseofSamSA on Twitter and @houseofsamsonite on Instagram, or call +27 31 266 0620.