Poor internal communications and cooperation were the chief reasons that 128 Greater Bay Airlines’ flights scheduled for February and March were canceled, the carrier has reported.
The report, submitted at the request of Hong Kong Special Administrative Region authorities, was made public by the HKSAR government on Wednesday.
On Jan 21, the airline announced it was canceling 128 flights to or from regions and countries, including Japan, South Korea and Taiwan, disrupting around 5,500 passengers’ travel plans.
The company explained that it did not have enough aircraft because of a late delivery from Boeing, which had suffered a manufacturing bottleneck due to a workers’ strike.
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The incident also prompted concerns over the carrier’s operating capabilities, and the government ordered the airline to submit a report within a week.
On Wednesday, Secretary for Transport and Logistics Mable Chan confirmed that the authorities received the report and supplementary information submitted by the carrier on Jan 29 and Feb 7 respectively.
Poor internal communication and a lack of cooperation from customer service operations were cited as the main cause for the cancellations, Chan said.
Calling the incident “the greatest challenge” since the company’s inception, the airline said a new management team, which took office a few weeks ahead of the incident, did not follow the company’s protocols for flight cancellations, taking too long and communicating the decisions poorly.
The team also failed to fully consider the ability of the customer service department to handle the flood of customer inquiries that emerged simultaneously. Inquiries from passengers via travel agencies, phone, email, social media, text messages, and websites were not properly handled because of a lack of resources, the airline said.
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The carrier also cited some external challenges at that time, saying some flights were canceled by a charter company after the fatal plane crash at Muan International Airport in South Korea on Dec 29.
Amid the chaos, the airline said it had deployed additional staff and resources to offer refunds, compensation and alternative plans for affected travelers, and all customer demands for resolution of cancellations were solved before the Chinese New Year holiday and no further cancellations followed during the holiday.
The report also proposed several improvements, including strengthening the internal management procedures for flight allocation arrangements, enhancing internal communications regarding changes to flight schedules and destinations, and ensuring the stability and reliability of the aircraft fleet and personnel.
The management team concerned in the cancellations “has been removed” from the company, said the report, adding that the airline has mandated more stringent protocols to live up to its service commitment.
Chan said she hopes the airline can learn from the setback, adding that the Air Transport Licensing Authority has requested the carrier to submit regular reports every month, and to report to authorities every time it decides to cancel flights.
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The transport chief also said that the airline was clearly required to effectively implement the optimization measures listed in the report soon to better cope with peak demand during the Easter holiday in April.
Chan emphasized that the government has always had regulatory mechanisms to oversee the operation of airlines, and will closely communicate with the industry to protect the interests of passengers, optimize the use of civil aviation resources and boost Hong Kong’s role as a global aviation hub.
Chan Siu-hung, chairman of the Legislative Council Panel on Transport, told local media that it is inappropriate for the government to interfere too much in the operation of a private enterprise like the airline. Instead, he suggested that authorities strengthen communication with the company to be up to date on its service improvements.
Chan has confidence that the carrier will enhance service performance in the face of market competition. However, he cautioned that if the airline does not demonstrate progress, this should be a factor in the government’s process regarding license or certificate renewal.
Another legislator, Chan Han-pan, commented on the public’s expectation for the local airline to perform successfully, suggesting that such anticipation could serve as a catalyst for the company to enhance its management and operations.
The Hong Kong-based airline began passenger services in 2022, primarily providing short- and medium-haul flights to and from over 10 destinations in the Asia-Pacific region, including cities in Thailand, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan.
