Has this happened to you? Sitting in Aberdeen airport yesterday, waiting for the 7.30 Eastern Airways flight back to Norwich I figured that I really should have something to eat to ensure that I didn't fade away - obviously! Having established that the entire shift from an offshore platform had just taken over Wetherspoons the alternative was the very acceptable, re-designed cafeteria before going though security. From previous positive experience, I knew that they were now doing freshly prepared food as opposed to solidifying hotplate offerings found in most service stations throughout the UK. The conversation went something like this. . . .
"Eh, let me go and find out for you"
So, I'm obviously the first person to ask this question today and, as predicted, the poor chap didn't have the answer so, welcome to the predictability factor!
Man duly returns and proudly announces "It's leek and potato" not a bad choice and I resisted the temptation to be mischievous and ask what was in that (great fun when you're really bored!) and suggested that I would like to order.
Man now puts order into till and says that "will be x pounds please"
"I was going to order a main course actually?"
"Oh, would you like the soup as a starter then?"
"That's the rule with soup isn't it?"
"So you want the soup by itself?"
"please?"
"Followed by your main course?" Although I was in fact, beginning to lose the will to live I explained that I would be very happy to have my soup as a starter followed by the main course.
15 minutes later. . . the soup and main course arrived together!! Amazingly, I managed to calmly point out that the soup was meant to be a starter to which the rather bemused man replied " Oh, em, what would you like me to do with your main course then?"
You'll be delighted to know that I resisted the obvious temptation. . . . . .
Try the "what's the soup" game next time you travel. . . it really does become quite addictive after a while!
Talking of airports - as we did in our last blog, the subject of the Norwich Airport departure tax certainly provoked some reaction including several people on twitter who shared similar experiences to mine and one person who was so disgusted that she "checked out", cancelled her flight and drove to her destination.
I have to say that I was very impressed with the Norwich Airport Chief Executive Andrew Bell who actually called our office to express his disappointment with the article and to ask why I hadn't contacted him directly before going to print. I did mention that we had sent him an email a few weeks ago which did not receive a response but told me that my email never arrived.
As expected, there were various issues that we have agreed to disagree on - including the departure tax itself but he did take on board a great many of my concerns and criticisms and we ended the conversation on a positive note.
I've met Andrew on a couple of occasions and it's clear that he is very focused on the long term future of the airport. He is a huge improvement on his predecessor (although I always enjoyed working with Richard Jenner when he was in charge a couple of years back!) but is obviously held back by Omniport who are the parent company. My own opinion hasn't changed on the issue of the departure tax but at least Andrew Bell has shown that they do actually care about the opinions of regular passengers.
Now, this may be a co-incidence but I travelled through the airport yesterday morning and, apart from being £10 lighter in the wallet, the entire experience went like clockwork! Totally different attitude from the security.
One member of staff took the time out to explain why they go through credit cards and individual compartments of wallets, purses and bags. This level of information could be very useful if displayed in the security area. Just a thought. . .
As for the catering? Once again, a different story to my last few journeys. Enough staff, no long queues for food or much needed caffeine and a cheerful approach to the job.
If any of those small changes are as a result of my comments then I'll be delighted but credit to Andrew Bell for listening and acting on some of our complaints. That's how to restore customer confidence so long may that continue.
I'm guessing that I won't be pulled over for that strip search on my next trip to Aberdeen after all?
Mike Bennett is the director of Media Answers limited and has worked in broadcast media since leaving school almost 125 years ago!
Radio broadcaster, interviewer, TV News cameraman, sports producer, live sports arena presenter, media trainer and now blogger!