Originally Posted by
Guy Betsy
I know about the various GDS' and of what they can and cannot do. I've been using one for over 30 years.
And yet...
The GDS' that the airport staff at the check in / lounges and gates are not the same as CX reservations' systems and therefore are unable to see other airline's availability. OP asked their staff to check for flights. They can only do so on their system first to see if the flight is operating. If they see it then they can check with the reservations department. Now internally, ie airside, there is very little anyone can do since the GDS are meant for check in and boarding services only. The GDS is a generic one - which means it can be used by any airline based on their needs for boarding procedures only. How many times have we asked a gate agent to check on such and such flight (other than the one shown on the board) that they ask you to go ask at the transfer desk per se.
Really, it's not that difficult to get out of DCS and open the reservations screen. There is no physical separation such that you must go to a particular location to get a particular information.
The reason why a gate agent for a particular flight will ask you to go somewhere else if you ask about a different flight is because they are busy working on the flight they are assigned on. If you really insisted, they could get out of their current flight and look up whatever you want them to. But it's a nuisance.
If a gate agent is not trained on reservations, it's possible
they don't know how. It's also possible that their sign-in specifically inhibits reservations access, although this would be highly unlikely and unnecessary.
If they didn't know how to use the reservations screen, they should have told the OP to go somewhere where he can get the correct information. Not flat out deny that the MH flight is operating, which is incorrect, whichever way you cut it.
There is also a lot of issues in place ... as his original coupon would have already be in use, the flight must first be unchecked , and then for the ticketing department to reinstate the ticket, then check if the availability on MH is still open. All this has to be done in limited time. Although the passenger said that he will pay for it, why doesn't he just call MH himself and book the ticket. CX can't do that.
Altea DCS includes facilities for re-accommodating an entire aircraft based on pre-defined criteria at the push of a few buttons. Somehow, I doubt that ticketing difficulties
prevented the agent from helping the OP if they deemed it irrops and
wanted to help accordingly.
I know people who worked at airports in Singapore, HK and YVR. Some with CX, and they tell me that it's not as simple as people think that they can do anything with their GDS. They are severely limited in what they can do.
Sure, they may not be able to issue tickets and perform certain functions only assigned to other sign-ons. But looking up OAL availability is not one of them.