Saturday, September 19, 2009

Phew... What a relief

As I was about to pack my stuffs going back Penang for my Raya holiday , I get a green light to try for the last flight to Penang which is MH 1149 . I was doubt about the chances of getting a flight to Penang . As far as I know , the frequency of flight to Penang is very high compared to Kuching . My friends had told me that he had to sleep in the airport for 1 night before he can go back Kuching because of flight overbooked and also no empty seat available. I never try my luck in KLIA to secure a seat near to Hari Raya. Last 2 years , I remember took off from my studies for a few days before coming back for holiday .

Once arrived at KLIA , I straight away went to the ticketing office at the Arrival Hall to print my e ticket . There were about 8 people in before me so I decided to put my name on the stand-by list at the Departure Hall first . After knowing that there were 4 people before me on the stand-by list ,I knew that what am I supposed to do.Plus, the MH 1149 was over-booked , the booking was around 148 people but the flight accomodate up to 144 passengers.

After I took my ticket , I went to the Flight Operation Office which is on the next building . I went across using a link bridge but I was not permitted to enter because I don't have the staff card to swipe . I pressed for the security and I was ushered by a security personnel from the entrance to the Flight Operation Office .

Once I was there , the place was like in the TVB Drama Triumph in the Skies . The pilots were there to attend the briefing before departure ,big LCD monitors showing the flight operation data. I was told to went into the office to ask for a Jump seat .
A jump seat (or jumpseat), officially known as an auxiliary crew station, is a seat in an aircraft cockpit for individuals not operating the aircraft. These might include training pilots, off-duty crew in transition to another airport (see deadheading), government officials (such as Federal Aviation Administration staff), or other airline staff.

My identity was verified by the Flight Op staff . I saw some of the staffs were busying checking the flight schedules and also the local weather of a place etc. Finally after 20 minutes of waiting , I was given a Jump seat by the captain of the flight MH1149 .


I went to the ticket counter in Departure Hall to get my boarding pass . After that , I went straight to Gate A4 . I was waiting for my turn to get on the plane, but my name was called over the P.A. system . The operation staff told me that the Captain had cancelled my Jump seat . And I asked him for the reason and he told me reason which was not acceptable (from my point of view) . How can this be happened to me?

I supposed to get on the last flight of the day to go back Penang and then I was stuck. Without any option available , I expected the worst which is 'sleep in the airport'.
After some confusion over at the desk which is next to the gate entrance , the staffs were sorting out the no-show passengers and calculate the total amount of passengers inside the aircraft .

No-show: A no-show is a passenger who fails to board the plane either because he/she has not fulfiled check-in procedures within designated time limit,or because he/she does not holdpropertravel documents.A no-show passenger may request a change of the flight or a refund of the ticket.If the no-show passenger wants to fly a Carrier's subsequent flight,the Carrier shall change the flight in accordance with its relevant regulations. If the no-show passenger requests a change of the Carrier or a refund of the ticket,50%of the ticket fare will be assessed as a no-show charge.

I over-heard that there were two Uganda nationality were stopped by the immigration who were supposed to be on the flight. Therefore , their seats were empty and I was given a seat 17 C which is an aisle seat . Phew.....What a relief.



3 comments:

진릉 said...

You're so lucky...

Kryptos said...

jumpseat sounds so cool eh! taken one before this?

Ryan said...

Ya. A few times de, usually from Penang to KL.