Passengers of flight QF436 were given a hot beef, cream and horseradish sandwich for their lunchtime meal today, only to be told 20 minutes into eating the sandwich that they were out of date – expired by a week, in fact.
Too little, too late. By then ofcourse most passengers had already devoured their sandwich and were washing them down with their coke zero and water. As for me, I was savoring the fact that Qantas had given us a pretty decent meal and was up to my final bite as the flight attendant walked up the aisle to inform passengers of the very unfortunate news.
"I just want to let you know that the sandwiches you are eating are actually out of date. I'm sorry and I just wanted to let you know," she said.
Gee, thanks for letting us know although giving us this information after the fact that we’ve all just eaten it, is a little too late. Perhaps if your crew of 15 were actually doing your jobs in the first place and checked that the sandwiches were safe to feed your paying customers, you might have received a more welcome response.
I look at the pack - expired 27/6/11. Today is the 3rd July. These sandwiches have been sitting god knows where, for a week, stewing in bad bacteria, and then served to all of us today and who knows how many other unsuspecting passengers.
Some minutes later, the pilot's voice comes on the loudspeaker: "This is your captain speaking. It has just been brought to my attention, and as you already know, that the meal served today is out of date. I am happy to let you know that when we land and you present your boarding pass at any food outlet, you will get $15 off your meal. I'm sorry this has happened. That's the best I can do," he said.
That's the best you can do? Really, Qantas? If I were you I would try slightly harder than that. You could potentially have a severe media and legal issue ahead of you, possibly within the next 48 hours depending on the how quickly the effects of food poisoning takes to surface, literally. Perhaps encouraging your passengers to stuff their face with 15 dollars worth of fried, fast food might not be such a good idea. And perhaps a sincere apology, rather than a half-hearted condescending sorry (followed by "that's the best I can do") might be a good start. After all, some of the unlucky ones might be spending their night tonight with their heads in the toilet bowl, and certainly without a good story to tell that precedes it.
It seriously concerns me that this has happened. On a full flight of men, women, and children of all ages, safety needs to be the number one priority. For an airline that prides itself on having the highest safety record in the world, I would’ve expected this to be a no brainer.
By that, I don't mean only getting us safely from A to B (good luck, Tiger Airways), but actually doing your jobs completely to ensure that passengers have a safe and comfortable flying experience, which includes feeding us food that is cleared to eat. Is that really too much to ask?
Too little, too late. By then ofcourse most passengers had already devoured their sandwich and were washing them down with their coke zero and water. As for me, I was savoring the fact that Qantas had given us a pretty decent meal and was up to my final bite as the flight attendant walked up the aisle to inform passengers of the very unfortunate news.
"I just want to let you know that the sandwiches you are eating are actually out of date. I'm sorry and I just wanted to let you know," she said.
Gee, thanks for letting us know although giving us this information after the fact that we’ve all just eaten it, is a little too late. Perhaps if your crew of 15 were actually doing your jobs in the first place and checked that the sandwiches were safe to feed your paying customers, you might have received a more welcome response.
I look at the pack - expired 27/6/11. Today is the 3rd July. These sandwiches have been sitting god knows where, for a week, stewing in bad bacteria, and then served to all of us today and who knows how many other unsuspecting passengers.
Some minutes later, the pilot's voice comes on the loudspeaker: "This is your captain speaking. It has just been brought to my attention, and as you already know, that the meal served today is out of date. I am happy to let you know that when we land and you present your boarding pass at any food outlet, you will get $15 off your meal. I'm sorry this has happened. That's the best I can do," he said.
That's the best you can do? Really, Qantas? If I were you I would try slightly harder than that. You could potentially have a severe media and legal issue ahead of you, possibly within the next 48 hours depending on the how quickly the effects of food poisoning takes to surface, literally. Perhaps encouraging your passengers to stuff their face with 15 dollars worth of fried, fast food might not be such a good idea. And perhaps a sincere apology, rather than a half-hearted condescending sorry (followed by "that's the best I can do") might be a good start. After all, some of the unlucky ones might be spending their night tonight with their heads in the toilet bowl, and certainly without a good story to tell that precedes it.
It seriously concerns me that this has happened. On a full flight of men, women, and children of all ages, safety needs to be the number one priority. For an airline that prides itself on having the highest safety record in the world, I would’ve expected this to be a no brainer.
By that, I don't mean only getting us safely from A to B (good luck, Tiger Airways), but actually doing your jobs completely to ensure that passengers have a safe and comfortable flying experience, which includes feeding us food that is cleared to eat. Is that really too much to ask?
