AN AIRPORT IN A STORM颱風下的機場

Typhoons are acts of nature. But how did Cathay Pacific and Cathay Dragon avoid Typhoon Mangkhut becoming a manmade disaster, too? By PHIL HEARD颱風是自然災害，無可避免，但是國泰航空及國泰港龍航空的團隊如何避免讓颱風「山竹」演變成人為災難呢？撰文：

There’s a strong typhoon coming. It could hit Hong Kong, and the airport, hard. Or it could weaken and the city will suffer nothing worse than a wet weekend.

So here is your choice: do you call a halt to the flying programme and disrupt the travel plans of tens of thousands of customers – and if so, when?

This is not a theoretical question. In September, one of the worst storms in a generation was indeed heading for Hong Kong. Sustained winds around the eye of Typhoon Mangkhut reached 200 kilometres an hour.

For Cathay Pacific, ensuring the safety of customers, aircrew, ground staff and aircraft came first. Next: how to minimise disruption for thousands of customers?

Hong Kong is a hub. Bet on the ‘wet weekend’ scenario and planeloads of people might fly in for a connecting flight that is no longer operating. Instead, they’d be stranded in an empty terminal with shuttered shops and no transport options into the city. With many aircraft in the wrong place, they could then face extra delays as operations are rebuilt.

Who makes that call? The Integrated Operations Centre (IOC), a working group of departments from across the Cathay airlines, chaired by Mark Hoey, General Manager Operations.

With Mangkhut they made that call: go big and go early.

Hoey says: ‘ The level of preparation by government, industry and community ahead of the typhoon was unprecedented. I called the first IOC meeting four or five days out.’

The first travel alert swiftly followed on the Cathay Pacific website. Head of Airport Customer Service, Josh Rogers, says: ‘Normally, we issue a warning three days out. This time it went out much earlier because of the size of the storm.’

Next day: a second alert, including a travel waiver. Customers could rearrange their travel without penalty.

‘Making an early call is something we’re learning from US carriers with winter snowstorms,’ says Rogers. ‘ We are learning from these big-scale events that the earlier you do it, the greater control you will pass to the customer. All the latest research says that customers want the flexibility and tools to do things themselves.

‘ The fewer people we have to look after because they’ve looked after themselves, the quicker we can look after those who haven’t sorted things out.’

If you’ve ever wondered why airlines ask for an email or contact number, this is why.

Hongkongers were all too aware of the incoming typhoon. But travellers from around the world were more likely to be following media coverage of the tropical storm threatening the US eastern seaboard.

Hence those early communications. The big announcement came when Cathay suspended operations between 2:30am on Sunday morning until about 4:30am on Monday morning. Around 555 flights were cancelled, affecting the travel plans of about 90,000 people.

And while a growing number of customers rebooked on the website via the ‘Manage my booking’ page, it meant a very busy week for the call centre and social media teams.

Irene Hon is Hong Kong Hub Manager for the global contact centres. On Sunday night during the storm, her team and the other centres took about 68,000 calls. ‘The early announcement led to a spread of calls that was easier to manage,’ she says. ‘When people hear that flights are affected they call in to clarify. People like to be reassured.’

當一個強颱風形成後，有可能正面吹襲香及場港機 ；但有能也可於途中減弱，只是令香港度人 過一個大雨滂沱的周末。

這時就要作出定決︰是否要宣佈航班停飛？這樣做會將成千上萬的乘客的行程計劃打亂。假如決定停飛，應又 該於何時停飛呢？

這不是一個假設的問題。今年9月，一個猛烈程度近年數一數二的颱風確實著朝香港吹過來。颱風「山竹」的風眼持續風速高達每小時200公里。

對國泰空航 而言，首先是確乘保 客、機組人員、勤地 及飛機的安全。其次是如何將數以千計乘客受到的困擾減至最低？

香港是國際交通樞紐，萬一錯估形勢，以為迎來的只是「大雨滂沱的周末」而颱風最終正撲香港結， 果就會有大量前來香港機轉 的旅客因接駁航班被取消而要滯留香港。他們會被困在空蕩蕩的候機大樓內，商店統統關門，前往市區的交通亦全停面 頓。，此外 由於多班本應抵港客的機已轉飛別處，即航使 班重新運作後，旅客有能仍 可 面臨額外的延誤。

那麼由誰來作全面停飛的決？定 就是綜合運作中心（ IOC）來作決。定 這是一個由國航多泰 空 個部門成組 的跨部門作工 小組，由航務總經理Mark Hoey主持。

「山來竹」 勢，決洶洶 他們 定盡早宣佈全面飛停 。

Hoey表示︰「政府、航空業及社會對這個颱風作出的高度戒備，是前所未見的。在『山來竹』 襲前的四、，五天 我已召開次了首 IOC會議」。

國泰航空的網頁隨即迅速發出首個旅遊警示。機客場 戶服務管主 Josh Rogers表 示︰「我們通常在三天前發出警示今， 次由於颱風比以往強，因而亦大幅提早發出警示的時間」。

翌日，國航發泰 空 出第二個警示，並宣佈豁免費用措施，受影響的旅客可重新安排機位而無需支付額外費用。

Rogers表示︰美「國航的 空公司在應付冬季暴風雪方面素有經驗，我向們 他們學習，因此提早下這個決。定 我從們 這些大型事件中學到，愈早作出定決 ，愈能顧讓客自行作出安排。所有最新的研究均顯示，顧客希望能掌握各種工具和資訊好， 讓他們能自行靈活處理事情」。

「由於人們能照顧自己，需要我們照顧的人數就會減我少， 們就可以更迅速地照顧那些仍未將旅程安排好的人。」

如你果 曾經對航空公司要求你留下電郵或電話號碼感到不解，原因正是為了在這種情況出現時，可以盡快跟聯你 絡，讓你早作安排。

香人港 自然密切注關 即將襲港的風颱走勢，但世界各地旅客更意留 的新聞，卻是威國脅美 東岸的熱帶風暴。

因此我們更需要盡早展開溝通工作。國航作泰 空 出重大宣佈，於星期日凌晨2時半至星期一凌晨4時半暫停作運 ，約555班航班被取消，約有大 90,000人的旅程受到影響。隨著透過網站上的「自助訂位管理服務」網頁重新訂位的顧客數目激增，客戶服務熱線中心及社交媒體團隊整個星期亦忙得不可開交。

Irene Hon是全球聯絡中心的香港區經理。颱風在星期日晚襲上 港期間她， 的團隊及其他聯絡接中心 到大約68,000個來電。她表示提︰「 早宣佈停飛，令乘客不致全集部 中於一段短時間內致電查詢，亦讓 我們更易於處理。乘客在得知航班受影響時，他們就會致電弄清楚狀況，因為大家都習慣再要 三確定情」況。

約60,000人獲安排改乘其他航繼班續行程，用行內術語來說，獲他們 「航班保護」。Rogers補充︰「我們盡量安排乘客前往他們所選的目的地，當然亦盡量優先選用國泰及聯盟夥伴的航班。」

只有量客少 乘 由於不知道他們的航班被取消而來到機場。在曼徹斯特，有240人預了訂 機位，約只有 20人前機來 場。倫敦方面，有五班航班受影響卻， 只有不足100人來到機場。計溝通 少奏效了︰與2017年超強颱風「天鴿」港襲 時相，比 這些數字映反 出我們在危機處理上大有進步。

當顧客在衝不量 同選擇之際，香的港國泰團隊則努力為航機「增磅」。我們香在港機場留下約十架注滿燃油的飛機把， 它們停在泊 最不當風的閘位。這些飛機地和區航班的客機，是令服務回復正常的關鍵。

與此同時，長途航班亦已準備從界世各地起飛，計並預 在香港機場重新開始運作後抵港，但同時確保有足夠燃油轉飛到其他機場降落。

不過是兩年前，國泰航空仍然要逐一為客乘 重新訂。位 Rogers表示現︰「 在我，們可以利用系統妥善處理。找例如 出所有從倫敦飛往悉尼的國泰乘客的資料，然後一過這次為 27位客乘 重新訂。位」

「不久之後我， 們就可以將整航一 班機，更甚至 多乘客資料放入優化程式內處理，乘客收會 到已獲重新安排機位的電郵通知。我們期望將重新安排機位的處理時間整體縮短至半天。三年前，如此大規模的處理需要三至四天，才能為所乘重有 客新安排。機位 」

Around 60,000 people were ‘reprotected’ – booked on alternative flights.

Rogers adds: ‘ We try to get customers to their chosen destination with Cathay or alliance partners first.’

Only a handful of passengers turned up for their flight without realising it had been cancelled. In Manchester, around 20 people showed up out of 240 booked. In London, there were fewer than 100 over five flights. The communication programme worked: these figures are a big improvement over Typhoon Hato, 2017’s monster storm.

As customers weighed up their options, the airport team weighed down the aircraft. Around 10 were left behind, heavy with fuel and parked in the most sheltered gates. They, along with regional aircraft, would be crucial in rebuilding the service.

Meanwhile, long-haul flights were ready to be dispatched from across the globe to arrive as Hong Kong operations restarted, but with enough fuel to divert to other airports.

Only two years ago, the airline had to rebook people individually. ‘Now,’ says Rogers, ‘we can ask the system to pull up everyone travelling from London to Sydney, for example, and rebook all 27 of them in one hit.

‘Soon, we will be able to take a whole flight or more and put it through an optimiser. People will receive an email letting them know we have rebooked them. We’re hoping to have customers receive their new flight arrangements within half a day. Three years ago, an event of this scale would take three to four days to get everyone rebooked.

‘ We try to put ourselves in customers’ shoes. If you’re travelling to London or New York, you probably have hotels booked: it’s not just about the flight. You might be starting a cruise or travelling for a birth, a funeral, a wedding. We try to keep as much of this in our thinking as we can.

‘ We have invested a lot into customer communications technology. But we still need to be self- critical and learn from each event. It is at times like these that we need to show not just what we do to look after customers, but also how we look after them. That’s the dividend of booking with Cathay.’

After Mangkhut passed, Rogers reflected on the previous days. ‘It’s a good sign how little coverage there was about airport chaos. It’s a step forward. There were a lot of people sticking up their hands and saying, “Can I come and help?” That Cathay spirit counts for a lot.’

「我們盡量設身處地為顧客著想。如果你前往倫敦或紐約，應該早已預訂酒店，航班受影響將牽一髮而動全身。或許你正要展開郵輪假期，或者要出席各種婚喪喜慶活動而出門。我們盡量考慮乘客的處境，然後為他們作出妥善的安排。」

「雖然我們大量投資開發顧客溝通技術，但仍然需要經常自我檢討，從每一件事汲取教訓。在這些重要的時刻，不僅要表現出我們樂於為顧客效勞，更要顯示如何為顧客提供最佳服務。這就是乘坐國泰航空的額外好處。」

颱風「山竹」離去後， Rogers回想過去數天的情況時說：「新聞上沒有什麼關於機場混亂的報道，這是件好事，代表我們有改進。有不少人自告奮勇地問︰『要我來幫忙嗎？』這種國泰精神，實在非常重要。」