A FREQUENT traveller on a Malaysian Airlines (MAS) was fuming at the perceived poor service. Nuryliamalek (@nuriyliamalek) complained of the hassle of checking in as the name requirements differed from what was asked for online.
“Please don’t give your child long name. It’s really difficult when you want to board a flight. @MAS will tell you to do one thing. Firefly will tell you another. It’s different on the web. If you call them, they’ll tell you to something else,” she berated.
“Well, this has always been an issue with @MAS. Bad service.”
Tolong jangan letak nama anak panjang panjang. Nak naik flight susah betul. Call @MAS lain. Firefly lain. Dalam web lain. Call lain.
Tah pape. @MAS ni banyak juga isu before ni. Bad service.
— Nuriyliamalek 🇲🇾 (@nuriyliamalek) May 18, 2024
In a lengthy tirade on the X platform, Nuryliamalek questioned why the entire procedure was not in sync.
The irate customer outlined her frustrations about the registration process with her dissatisfaction palpable when she said this was supposedly a world-class airline, not some domestic express bus service.
Such dis-organisation was a complete pain and definitely puts the national carrier in a bad light. This is even after the national carrier has asked Nuryliamalek to refer to its website to fill up details of her child’s name.
“I’ve referred to the web but still got rejected at the (check-in) counter. Why is this @MAS?”
The post has already generated 958,200 views at time of writing, meaning its bad press for MAS that is going viral.
Alarmingly, other netizens said this was par-for-the-course.
This is surely not a great look when other air travellers claim they did not face such problems with rival airlines.
Pertaining to the poster’s advice to potential travellers to avoid giving their offspring lengthy names to avoid facing similar problems, one netizen did post a solution – ignore the father’s name entirely if it is too long (in the case of Muslims).
Another netizen highlighted how cumbersome the process is and said it was irrelevant whether the kids’ names are short.
At a time when the aviation industry is still finding its feet post-pandemic, MAS needs to up its game and avoid such negative feedback from customers.
Social media has proven to be a very effective complaints platform and can greatly sway public opinion if the issue is not addressed swiftly and effectively.
Such inconvenience to flyers and inability to sync systems is just not a good look for any enterprise seeking to compete on a global level.
The modern traveller yearns convenience, especially in light of post-September 11 safety protocols and COVID-19 measures. Not having to deal with administrative blunders would be most welcome. – May 21, 20234
