Sep 2016 at 19:21 33  

WRITER: AMORNRAT MAHITTHIROOK

Passengers board a Thai AirAsia flight at Don Mueang airport. AirAsia executives will fly to Hat Yai district, Songkhla, to apologise to a flight attendant over an incident with a passenger. (Photo by Boonsong Kositchotethana) 

The chief executives of AirAsia Group and Thai AirAsia plan to visit Songkhla on Friday to apologise to a flight attendant who was forced to prostrate herself before the daughter of a complaining passenger.

Tassapon Bijleveld, chief executive officer of Thai AirAsia, said on Thursday that he and Tony Fernandes, chief executive of AirAsia Group, will "be meeting with the staff member and the staff member's family to extend our genuine apologies".

"We acknowledge and appreciate our staff member's feelings towards what has happened," he said on Thursday.

Mr Fernandes met Thai AirAsia staff in Bangkok on Thursday. He wrote in his Instagram account: "I met cabin crew and was good. Tomorrow I go to Hat Yai (of Songkhla province) to meet her parents. My fault. I'm the leader. We need better procedures on both sides."

Both executives referred to the incident in which the flight attendant had to prostrate herself to settle down a mother who reportedly was upset with the attendant asking what she could do to help her daughter who reportedly had a disability.

It happened on a recent Phuket-Bangkok flight. The mother then sent a complaint to the airline as she felt the flight attendant was dishonouring her by asking what she could do to help.

The airline management later had a meeting with the mother and the flight attendant who prostrated before the passenger, Mr Tassapon said.

Mr Tassapon attributed the incident to poor communication between the airline and the passenger.

"We assure we will learn from these events and amend our policies accordingly and have our Customer Relations Department handle all passenger complaints in the future without the need for confrontation between passengers and cabin crew," Mr Tassapon said.

http://www.bangkokpost.com/news/general/1081317/airasia-chiefs-to-apologise-to-attendant