Poles apart.

I read with interest the safety concerns from engineering groups about airlines and their decisions on reporting incidents and what they are willing to compromise on. A cracked windscreen was used as one example of an aircraft that could suffer an integrity problem due to depressurisation if it continued to fly. Integrity is corporate speak for crash.

Yet the aircraft built today have a great capacity to continue flying under duress, most of which we never hear of. So that doesn’t worry me half as much as personnel and what they consider is their duty of care when it comes to looking after their passengers.

A recent overseas domestic trip gave me the best example of the good, the bad and the very best.

A glazed, glassy eyed look. Bored beyond belief. Shirt untucked and trousers hanging below a waist that hasn’t seen the inside of a gym in years. My bus conductor was walking the aisles handing out biscuits. Sorry, did I say bus conductor. I meant to say flight attendant.

Here I was, knees around my head, flying a propeller job wondering what was going through the flight attendant’s mind. Why was he here? It was painfully obvious that he would have derived more pleasure from being tackled by the All Blacks front line, rather than continue this arrangement till retirement.

We all know someone stuck in that veritable rut at work but are they responsible for the safety of 60 passengers as they hurtle across the Alps in a Trabant with wings? What made it even more obvious was the second flight attendant was almost the perfect employee, fast, fastidious, courteous and helpful.

So what am I to think? The chances of an emergency due to aircraft “’integrity” are almost negligible and I was at least convinced the Captain tucked his shirt in. So the two gents worked the aisles and the reactions from passengers to each were poles apart.

When you go to a restaurant, do you go for the celebrity chef (will he be there), do you go for the food, and do you go for the ambiance? It’s all a matter of expectations.

So when you fly an airline, do you think about who will look after you, who will fly you and who you will sit next to?

Next time you purchase a ticket, think about the above and about your expectations. I know mine are high and often I’m disappointed but that isn’t enough reason to lower those expectations.

Universal mediocrity is not something to aim for so let’s keep our expectations at the highest level and wait to be surprised. That way it’s easy to tell, who you should be doing business with.

Competition for the airlines will remain tough for 2010 and the winner should be you, if you stick to your convictions. Don’t compromise and you will have an easy choice to make your travel exceptional.