SAA : Dont Fly with young Kids (South African Airways)

Member Name: jhughesbw2

Product:	South African Airways
Date:	15/08/00 (625 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: none

Disadvantages: useless bone lazy incompetant staff, dangerous conflicting in flight safety instructions, "touchy feely" male stewards

I wanted to visit my parents in SA to show off my little boy 15 months old (my husband was away for 3 months on business). I spoke extensively with my travel agent about which airline would be the best / most recommended airline to fly for my particular flying requirements i.e. unaccompanied mother and a large baby (the size of a two year old but is only just learning to walk). My travel agent assured me that SAA came highly commended as the best airline for travelling mothers with young children so I proceeded to make our travel arrangements with SAA. So in addition to my own seat I also booked a seat for my baby and paid a full child fare as he is too big a child to handle for the duration of a twelve-hour flight.

One week before we were due to fly I rang up SAA directly (London office) to make sure that they were aware that I was travelling on my own with a baby. I was told by SAA that it would be fine to bring a car seat for the baby and use it on his aeroplane seat for added safety. I decided to bring his baby seat and strap him securely in it as he is yet not old enough to sit on his seat alone, he also would fall off the aeroplane seat and he is at that age where it is difficult to keep him still and prevent him from crawling all over the aeroplane annoying other passengers. So I had to bring his baby seat both for his safety and for SAA´s convenience too. This was all conveyed and agreed with SAA representative on the phone.

Anyway on flight day I checked in all my baggage including the babies travel buggy (which had to be put in the aeroplanes hold).

Once on the aeroplane, the SAA cabin crew told me that my baby could not be made comfortable in his baby seat and instead must be strapped to me using an infant seat belt, with his own prepaid seat now empty. None of which was said to me when I clarified me bringing this baby seat with SAA the week before.

Due to a mechanical delay (caused by a tyre bursting just before t
ake-off) we had to have a meal ( they ran out of meals and the food was inedible) on the runway whilst waiting for assistance. Then we were told (only in the early hours of the morning) that we would have to spend the night at an airport hotel. As I badly needed help with my young toddler (a very large baby 14-kg’s), who was now fast asleep, a baby seat and two small bags, I was then made to wait until last to get off the aircraft,. At this point one of SAA male stewards (cabin crew) came up to my still half asleep little boy, who was already deeply disturbed as I struggled to carry his heavy weight, and kissed him on his cheeks. I asked for my babies buggy only to be told by SAA staff that it was "taped up", in the aeroplane hold, and could not be retrieved for me. I had to rely on fellow passengers to help carry the car seat and one of my bags.

We were then transported by bus to the airport terminal. On reaching the terminal there was no one there to assist me and I had to rely on fellow passengers to carry my two bags and car seat as I had my hands full with my son. At this stage it was almost 2 a.m. in the morning. I had to wait again in the hotel foyer where I had nowhere safe to constrain my little boy and I had to chase after him for a further hour whilst I waited to be given suitable accommodation.

Next Day after a sleepless night I was then told that we would be taken to the airport at 3 p.m but woudl have to check out of room by noon. So for another 3 hours I had to cope with a small child in a very unsafe (young child) environment complete with stairs, hard marble floors etc. At this stage I was totally exhausted due to lack of sleep and a strained back from lifting my baby as my buggy was kept overnight in the aeroplane’s hold.

When we arrived at Heathrow I asked SAA staff immediately for some assistance in carrying my baby, luggage. When help arrived he was totally unprepared as he was required to help
myself in addition to another struggling mother also travelling alne with a young baby. He walked so fast with our luggage that it was difficult keeping up carrying the heavy weight of my baby and without any consultation with us he took us off and literally "dumped" us in one of the executive lounges where we could not get any food for either ourselves or the babies.

4 Hours later SAA rep came to inform us that plane was now boarding. After boarding the aeroplane I was then not given an infant seat belt. So just before take off I had to strap (with no assistance) the child’s babyseat onto his aeroplane seat and then place him in it. Not one of the SAA cabin crew commented on this previously pointed out this safety breach. So for both this take-off and landing the baby remained in the car seat.

When we arrived in Johannesburg, I waited patiently until last to receive assistance from SAA staff to exit the plane and assist me through the through arrivals routine at Johannesburg Airport. Everyone else by now had left the aircraft, the cabin crew were on their way and I then asked for this "help" that I was promised I would get. One of the SAA cabin crew then came up to me and said that it wasn’t her job to assist.

When we eventually arrived by bus at the terminal, the bus driver just sat in the bus; he did not indicate that we had arrived or even help the two of us who needed assistance. I had to indicate to the other passenger (an elderly lady who also waited until the end for assistance), who was hard of hearing if she wouldn’t mind helping as at this stage I had accumulated extra hand luggage due to the unnecessary Hotel stop-over and needed extra things for my baby. Two ground staff of SAA walked straight past us as we struggled to arrange the bags and baby.

Eventually in tears, completely exhausted and very very angry I was met by happy helpful faces for once. Those of my parents.


I wrote to SAA detailing all of the above and inteh absense of a timley response I cancelled teh return leg on SAA and flew with Virgin Instead at a cost to myself of £400 or so.

I felt that I could not trust SAA with providing me with the promised service for my return journey to London as SAA could not even email me a letter of explanation for their poor quality of service after I had gone to the trouble during my holiday to write and send them a copy of what had happened four weeks before I was due to return to London. I even rang the SAA Customer Service Office to check whether they had received my letter of complaint. Niema, was the person who I was referred to and initially she said that they had not received my letter. I knew they had because I had rang the SAA London office earlier that morning and they had received a copy of my letter which I had sent at the same time and copied it onto their computer. I informed her of this and she then said she had received it, however she had 72 hours within to reply and that they were short staffed and she needed to put the letter onto the computer. I only received a letter from SAA a week after I was due to return to London with them.
To make matters even worse I wrote to SAA and their Customer service liason officer aplogised but clearly admitted to the above events.

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