Kenya Airways have no concept of customer service (Kenya Airways)

Member Name: paulmuggleton

Product:	Kenya Airways
Date:	29/12/09 (46 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: None I can think of

Disadvantages: Can't cope when things don't go according to plan

We were booked on flight KQ615 on the evening of 22nd December 2009. Checkin and boarding were uneventful and the plane left the departure gate a few minutes late. Just before takeoff the pilot announced that there was a problem with the landing lights at Nairobi and we were returning to the gate. This was the last intelligible piece of information received from Kenya Airways - what happened after that was totally shambolic!
We were returned to the departure lounge, but at no stage was any official announcement made as to what Kenya Airways intended to do. It was left to individuals to approach the manager to try to find out what was happening, and even she eventually ran away! Apart from a single drink, Kenya Airways provided nothing to the delayed passengers.
Under European legislation overnight accommodation would have had to be provided by the airline where a delay involves an overnight stay. Kenya Airways clearly has much lower standards. Kenya Airways failed to provide us with any means of contacting friends and relatives at home to warn them of the delay and to reassure them that we were safe. As a result we ran up a very substantial mobile phone bill. The lack of information was so bad that one of our group even made a phone call to the Foreign Office in London to see if they knew anything.

The departure lounge at Mombasa has hard seating with fixed armrests, leaving nowhere to lie down. Kenya airways knew by 09:30 that our flight would not take off until 11:00 a.m. the following morning but did nothing to make us more comfortable or to tell us how they proposed to get us to London. At this stage it was clear that our connecting flight from Nairobi (KQ102) had been delayed until after dawn. This would have allowed time for us to be bussed to Nairobi if anyone at Kenya Airways was prepared to show a little initiative.
It was even more galling to see other flights for Nairobi taking off while we were grounded. As I now understand it Kenya Airways was the only airline to ground its flights. Eventually we contacted our tour operator who arranged to take us to a hotel for the night. Even at this stage no official information was forthcoming from Kenya Airways. We didn't sleep very well that night - we were naturally concerned for our families back home and wanted to be with them for Christmas. If it had been left to Kenya Airways we would have been stranded at Mombasa airport for more than 12 hours with no food, no drink and nowhere to sleep!

In the morning we returned to the airport and flight KQ615 eventually took us to Nairobi at about 11:45. We had, of course, missed our onward connection to London. Kenya Airways had provided boarding passes for the KQ102 flight departing that night and were therefore fully aware that we would be spending the next 11 hours at Nairobi Airport. No effort was made by Kenya Airways to provide food or drink during this period. Only after an hour or so of argument were vouchers provided allowing us to take lunch and dinner in the Transit Restaurant. Nairobi Airport has to be one of the worst in the world - there is a lack of seating, many of the toilets are filthy, and there are no comfortable restaurants or bars in which to while away the time. The Kenya Airways lounge to which we were initially directed was drab and had insufficient seating. Fortunately once again our tour operator assisted us by providing access to a comfortable lounge.

In total we were delayed for more than 24 Hours and Kenya Airways did hardly anything for us. The most distressing aspect was the total lack of information. I still don't understand why other airlines were flying in and out of Nairobi while our flights were grounded. Are Kenya Airways pilots less competent than those of other airlines?

Our experience of using Kenya Airways has been extremely unsatisfactory. The test of any airline is how it copes when things go wrong - as they surely will from time to time. Passengers understand that operational problems can cause delays of the type we experienced. They expect the airline to keep them properly updated on what is being done to solve the problem - Kenya Airways failed dismally in this respect. They also expect the airline to face up to its responsibilities for the welfare of passengers. Kenya Airways couldn't have cared less! I do not believe that any European airline would have treated its passengers so badly.

In my view Kenya Airways is unfit to be operating flights in and out of EU countries as its standards fall well short of those considered acceptable within Europe.

Summary: I'll never fly with them again!