Srilankan Airlines make a Booking

J.'s physician advised him to use the airports chair wheel facility, so he phoned the airlines and made the necessary preparations. A free wheeled chair set was provided for his travels through Malaysia and South Korea. At Bandaranaike International Airports (BIA) he had to make an advance booking to get admission to the chairlift.

As frightening as it is that those in wheelchairs are asked to foot the bill for help at our up-and-coming global tourism hot spot, J. book and foot the bill for using a chair several trading days prior to his plane out. My boyfriend came to BIA as desired and contacted the SriLankan Airlines offices at the entry of the terminal.

There were at least three other J found who were also awaiting support for disabled persons. While J. was awaiting the landing of his chair, he listened to the SriLankan Airlines official on the telephone with their co-workers and complained about the aliens in the room. It' funny that the Sri Lankan Airlines employees at the Sri Lankan Airlines Multinational Terminal blame tourist for not being able to talk to them in Sinhala or English.

Personnel made phone conversations and told travelers that they were having difficulty finding the wheelchair-stewarders. Well, let me recall that this chair assistant was prebooked and prepaid for this particular trip. Afraid to miss his plane, J was willing to limit his casualties and suggested going to check-in with his cane.

However, the charade of Sri Lankan Airlines' client services was not over yet. After he had eventually climbed into his chair, it seemed a shock to the field sergeant that he had to give up luggage - even though it was with him all the while. He was then asked by the officers who would take over the checked luggage for him.

Here the authors would like to point out that it is important that you do not need support for wheelchairs at Bertelsmann unless you can provide your own back! After finding that no one J could turn to could turn to him, the officers told him that he would have to find a concierge from the inside for his baggage since no one was present at the door.

Then J asked if he should get out of his chair, go to the airfield, find a doorman and go back outside to his chair to be brought back in? It was at this point that J. determined that he had to make his own way through the area. However, he had the courtesy to ask for a notice acknowledging that Sri Lankan Airlines was unable to offer him the services he had been paying for.

Even the personnel declined to do so. Here my boyfriend asked for the name of the official who announced this disastrous incident and gave clear indications that he intended to forward it as a grievance to the higher officials. The employees threatened to be accountable and decided to carry his own luggage and take him to the airplane in a handicapped person.

However, is this the level of performance that we must demand from our publicly owned companies? Can it be that those overseas travelers who need help in wheelchairs leave Sri Lanka with the tartest aftertaste? So why do we have to risk consequences for civil servants in order to get the kind of jobs we pay for?

Hopefully, however, this drama, which took place in the SriLankan Airlines offices, will be taken seriously by senior managers and that adequate initiatives will be taken to prevent any other disabled persons from being exposed to such ill-care. You may find our earlier article about Sri Lankan Airlines "Paying the fare for the last extravagance" and "The renationalization of Sri Lankan Airlines and the craziness of state-owned enterprises" interesting if you liked this article.