Originally Posted by Outbound

Hi,

We are now back in Sweden after the ceremony i Paris. Below you can read how AF organized our trip etc. I am reporting it first of all because AF handeled it all so well and if we (my wife and I) could, we would never stop hugging those who helped us. I really hope we have AF-staff in this thread! Secondly because the organization is a result from their crisisplan and pure concern from involved staff. Some might find it disturbing reading about our experience, but this our experience and only ours.

We got the call late on tuesday evening with our reservation number. I asked some questions regarding groundhandling, transportation etc but the lady at the other end said "don´t worry we have taken care of everything".

We went to the ticket office at CPH and gave them our resv.no and told them that Clara (my wifes sister) was one of the crewmembers. I did not take more then 15 seconds for two gentlemen to approach us from AF, one sales manager N.E and the station manager. They gave us their condolences and wanted to know if they could something for us. From this moment they did not leave us out of sight, until the doors at the plane were closed. The made sure that we avoided queues, took us to the lounge, served coffe. At time of boarding they followed us to the plane, where they had made prearrangements. During the flight the whole crew (apart from those in cockpit) came and gave their condolences, which was very touching. Before landing they asked if my wife spoke Spanish, due to her Spanish name, and when we were supposed to have our baby.
Upon arrival, the crew pointed us out for one gentlemen (AF ingeneur) who spoke Spanish. He immediately asked if we needed something. We shared the same bus with the other passengers and after getting of the bus, they “swifted us” away in the terminal and into a private car that took us to the AF office/building were clerks, crewmembers etc work. We were then handed over to the “crew divisions manager” who had have Clara in his organization. After clearing building security my wife was approached by a doctor, asking how she felt about the pregnancy after the trip/incident. We were overwhelmed and tears came down. Just so well organized. Our family (party of 5) had two AF employees taking care of us, one the former boss and a AF steward. There was a buffet and especially made private talkingrooms. The AF staff made sure that we drank enough, that we found a dressing room and that we had time for eachother etc.
At around 2pm the buses left for Notre Dame and its ceremony. Upon arriving AF staff covered the buses windows, away from the cameras.
I will not comment on the ceremony apart from that it was perfectly made with prearranged seats for us.
After the ceremony we went back to the AF building for a small chat and after that taken to the Novotel at the airport. One of the AF staff made our check in and made sure that we did not need anything more. We had an arranged familydinner. In the morning Claras ex boss came again and introduced us to an maintenance employee who would take us to the airplane, going home. He always leaded the path at the airport and got us our boardingpasses. He took us to the gate and after a few seconds we sat in a private car taking us to the airplane. We were the first ones to board and upon boarding the whole crew greeted my wife and gave their condolences. When the purser came to our seats some minutes later we all shared some tears and once again we felt so good taken care of. He even gave us his email in case we had any questions or needed anything.
Upon landing at CPH the station manager met us again and made sure that we got out of the airport smoothly. He also gave us his email and said not to hesitate to contact him.

During the whole event/flights everyone called us by name and they also knew who my wife had lost, by name. It also felt good that we were surrounded by “normal Af staff/people” and not only doctors etc. No matter were we came the dedicated AF staff made sure it all went smoothly. Everyone seemed to know that we were coming. They took your hand when it was crowded, they touched you when the tears came, they followed us to Notre Dame, they gave us candles to light and they felt with us.

I hope no one is offended by my text above and if so please understand that we really want to thank you the AF-staff and the experience above is just our experience. I also want to thank you those who have sent us messages on flyertalk.

/Outbound