Article: Should Airlines Keep Lounges Open for Delayed Flights?

[Beano]

There are many industries where people are asked to do overtime, sometimes at the last minute, the hospitality industry included. What's the difference with airline lounge staff? Aren't you, as a business traveller, doing the same! I try and avoid late flights, but sometimes can't help it, so arriving at 1 am in a city after 8 hrs travelling and having to be up at 6 am to meet business requirements must sometimes be endured.

 

[henrus]

A couple of years ago I flew VA SYD to BNE last flight of the day. There were rolling weather delays and just two flights left mine to BNE and the other to MEL (the rest had been cancelled meaning a huge crowd at the VA lounge reception). After mostly clearing the crowd (telling those with luggage to head to check in) they closed the lounge at around 10:00pm. Our BNE flight boarded about 10 mins later but the MEL flight was delayed another 40 odd minutes which meant many people kicked out of the lounge (mostly on the MEL flight) grabbed their drinks including whole bottles of wine from the buffet and walked off into the food court.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

I have a counterpoint to the Air Canada anecdote that Matt shared earlier. Back in July 2022 I was flying back to Sydney with Air Canada (in business class if that means anything) connecting in Vancouver from Toronto. I arrive in Vancouver at 9:30 PM and walk the 50 metres to pass the passport check and enter the international departures concourse (where the International Maple Leaf lounge is). I immediately head to the lounge and do my normal routine (shower, meal, etc.) as boarding was to be called soon. To my surprise, the flight gets delayed by about 2 hours. At the same time, AC37 (the only other flight that night in the international area) also to Sydney was also delayed. Nonetheless, the lounge remained open well past its 23:00 closing time. Could it be that maybe this was the international lounge, and so there is more of an expectation that services like lounges be open? I'm not certain. But I think that raises an important question, do lounge opening policies vary between domestic and international terminals even for the same airline? For instance, would the Qantas First lounge close in Melbourne even if the last QFi of the day hasn't yet departed?

In terms of what airlines should do in these situations, I do have some thoughts. First, they can provide passengers in the lounge with a parting gift (i.e. a bag full of snacks and light food options) before they leave the lounge. In that way they can have something to eat as usually for late night departures all the restaurants and concessions are closed. A more ambitious thing would be having a lounge within a lounge concept which consists of a small room cordoned off for these late delays. In this way, the cleaners can do what they need to do, and then when the flights are called the room can also be closed and cleaned. Part of it is also the fault of the airport authority. I mean if the airport had plenty of seating with tables you can work from, that would be one thing. But generally with my experience at airports you are lucky to find a seat (and a powerpoint).

-RooFlyer88

 

[Rayhyde]

We had a situation in Hong Kong in April where our Qantas plane back to Sydney was delayed by 7 1/2 hrs. The lounge staff were fantastic. The plane was due to leave at 1700 but didn't leave until 0150 the next day. the staff kept the lounge open, feeding us right up till the plane boarded.
I could not fault their dedication to their passengers.
Thankyou Qantas.

 

[Berlin]

What a timely article- we’re currently stuck at Schipol airport and while pretty much every flight here is delayed tonight, KLM just kicked us out quite rudely from the lounge.

Lots of VERY unhappy people as staff wasn’t exactly very diplomatic about it. Which seems to be, sadly, generally a KLM trait these days. So not, not only Virgin and Qantas…

 

[Seat0B]

Transport considerations for relatively lowly paid workers is an issue, I doubt many park at the airport.

Obviously it depends what has been negotiated but very many employers offer taxis or an uber home for staff working late. And often back the next morning if it was unexpected and their car was stranded. Even as a very small business employer we did this whenever staff worked back.

 

[Seat0B]

All of the IR issues are eminently solvable, if the business is actually interested in doing so (which tells me that neither QF or VA particularly care).

I have mediated far more complex overtime situations and quite often workers don’t actually mind the overtime, but it’s solving the managerial approval and transportation issues that makes or breaks it. Workers hate having to chase up their employer to pay their overtime and also hate being stuck at the airport after the last train or bus has gone.

Need to have someone there on hand to auto-approve overtime and provide cabcharge/uber vouchers, and also make sure that the late roster is not filled with people who have children/caring responsibilities.

Yes! Exactly. And if a business the size of mine (20 employees at its biggest) could sort it out, you’d think big ones could too if they really wanted to. Which is the real point, isn’t it.

 

[kangarooflyer88]

We had a situation in Hong Kong in April where our Qantas plane back to Sydney was delayed by 7 1/2 hrs. The lounge staff were fantastic. The plane was due to leave at 1700 but didn't leave until 0150 the next day. the staff kept the lounge open, feeding us right up till the plane boarded.
I could not fault their dedication to their passengers.
Thankyou Qantas.

Hopefully your trip started in Europe/Canada so you could claim compensation under EU261 for the delay.

Obviously it depends what has been negotiated but very many employers offer taxis or an uber home for staff working late. And often back the next morning if it was unexpected and their car was stranded. Even as a very small business employer we did this whenever staff worked back.

Completely understand the constraints on lounges, particularly those where the airport isn't open 24/7. But even then, one must ask, aren't flight delays foreseeable? And if so, could they not have a contingency in place to at the very least minimize the annoyance to passengers in the lounge? This is one of the reasons why I like concepts such as the Air Canada Café lounge with its grab and go food options. Yes the lounge may have to close at 21:30, but if my flight over to Vancouver is delayed to 11, at the very least I can grab some food and have a small snack whilst I wait at the gate for boarding. It doesn't cost the lounge much and it can really take some of the edge off a delay.

-RooFlyer88