Ground Handling @ GLA
 

I fly frequently with KLM ex Glasgow mainly to AMS, as well as onwards to various destinations across the world. I am a KLM Flying Blue Gold Card holder and my partner is Platinum.

The quality of handling provided by Servisair at Glasgow is very poor. Frequently the check-in ques are long, and the Business class, Elite Check-in counter is also a bag drop off point which defeats the purpose of having a Business class counter, as the majority of passengers are dropping off bags since they use online check-in.

Over the last twelve months, I have never once received a priority baggage tag, not that it is a major problem as yes we all know that they often make little difference however what is the point in having a huge pile of them when Servisair don't bother attaching them to the luggage tag?

The check-in staff clearly have no understanding of the KLM product, and are often disinterested and when there is a delay or a cancellation you are met with a couldn't care less attitude and one agent went as far to say to a fellow passenger "you are travelling with KLM what do you expect? they always cancel".

Furthermore they never inform you that you are entitled to use the lounge or where it is located and often they sit with Continental lanyards and badges on which does not look good when they are checking in a KLM flight.

KLM clearly have no personnel at Glasgow, and everything is outsourced to Servisair. They have a lady who acts as a KLM rep, however this person also appears to have no understanding of the KLM product, and during difficult situations such as a delayed or cancelled flight she never helps out.

When boarding they take your boarding pass of you and shout out a number and your surname for eg: "45 Skylad" the whole process is similar to a low cost carrier such as Easyjet or Ryanair, and I have never seen this done at anyother station on GLA!

If the flight is overbooked they upgrade anyone into the Euro Select cabin, and never do it based on status and quite often they type of people they do op up are less than desireable heading for a boozy weekend in AMS etc

Servisair also frequently leave the luggage out on the ramp in uncovered trolleys exposed to the elements, resulting in baggage becoming wet etc.

Sorry if this post is long winded, however I am interested in what other people's thoughts are regarding the ground handling at KLM outstations inparticular GLA?

I am amazed considering that KLM often have as many as five flights a day out of GLA that they have no personnel of their own based there.

Does anyone have any suggestions as to the best way to get KLM to take action and ensure that GLA follow the correct procedures as on the whole it would put you off flying with KLM and it is all down to the poor service provided by Servisair!

I look forward to hearing your comments.

Best wishes
Skylad

Of the various UK Servisair operations I've had the misfortune of trying (BHX, LBA, MAN, STN to name but four, probably I'm forgetting one or two), only the Manchester one seems to have some semblance of professionality- alright, they don't manage to properly deliver priority baggage, but they get pretty much everything else right...The rest of them have been total shambles...so your experience is par for the course I am afraid!

The funny thing is that KL use them pretty much everywhere apart from MAN! :p

They are bad, I have seen the same at many airports.
It's a pity airlines go for cost instead of quality.
In my opinion a good supervisor at the counters can easily solve the problem.

I use GLA less often, but my experiences there tally. EDI seems a bit better.

One of the problems, I think, is that the vast majority of flights out of these airports are lo-co's, and they extend the same treatment to all PAX. You somehow expect something horrible if you're on a lo-co, and often I'm pleasantly surprised. Last week, I studied the departure TV screens at EDI for a while. It seemed to me that something like 8 out of 10 flights is a lo-co, with the occasional BA, BD and KL flight in there. It is a really shame that the full service carriers are so thin on the ground.

Now DND, there's an airport you want to try one time! Really nice, and little. You can even chat with the crew over coffee in the little corner cafe before the flight. Hurry up, before the ScotAirways franchise to CityJet expires...

I use LBA and it's the same story.. Serv.. sorry.. CircusAir is a complete farce..

I once overheard a purser say to the captain (after a 20minute wait for a bus and steps) "Grrr.. It's like talking to a ****ing child!"

I guess KL crew don't like them either.. but.. I bet they are cheap.

My experience at BRS (2-3 times a month) is not quite as bad. They do attach useless priority labels to baggage, they do tell you where the lounge is even though it is often full at busy times, there is a separate check-in queue for ES/E+ passengers, they issue priority labels for the security check queue (by far the best advantage of E+ status with KL when departing on a Friday afternoon!).

ServisAir aren't so much cheap, they have a virtual monopoly at BRS, much like at other airports where BA pulled out and where only EZ or FR manage their own operations now.

Calling out names and numbers (the security number, or sequential check-in number) is a result of boarding passes and readers at the gate not being compatible. With ICI and self-printed boarding passes, this just has to be done. Brussels Airlines require me to print two copies (one to hand in at the gate, one to show in the plane) to overcome this. But then, KL are so proud of their environmental track record, why would they ask for all that paper to be wasted...

I also fly a great deal ex GLA; either to AMS itself or via AMS to elsewhere. My experiences are similar to those described here: the baggage handlers (on the return to GLA) seem to add the word "LOW" to any baggage with a "PRIORITY" tag ... on several occasions, my bag has been very nearly the last on on the belt; and the ServisAir check-in monsters have never given my the priority tag (but, I have my super-cool Platinum tag on the case, and sometimes this works at AMS:rolleyes:).

:mad: On one occasion, I was travelling with a group and one of the pax names was very slightly misspelt; I had phoned KLM customer services about this and, as it was an intra-european flight, the guy said it wouldn't be a problem and he would 'flag' the locator so that check-in would be smooth ... it wasn't! The she-devil that checked us in (I pointed out to her that my companion's name was slightly wrong) kept us waiting for nearly 30 mins while she phoned the KLM booth (also at GLA), then kept asking my friend if his name really was what his passport said it was, and whether or not that was his name on his birth certificate (???!!!); I felt like going over to the KLM booth and growling, but I managed to keep cool for the sake of my travelling companions. After all this, she gleefully pointed out to us that, had we been travelling with a charter flight, they would have charged us £30 for the name change (bloody cheek)! Incidentally, on the return flight, where there was a genuine AFKL check-in, we didn't get even a raised eyebrow about the name error, and all 6 of us (I am the only elite) got priority check-in and tags.

However, on the op-up issue, I must disagree: since I made Gold and then Plat, I have been called by name at the gate on a number of occasions for upgrades to ES ... but the staff do sometimes seem to give the upgrade rather grudgingly: almost as though they resent the fact that the computer has told them who to upgrade, and they can't choose those pax they 'like the look of'.

All-in-all, I think KL would be well advised to get their own staff back at GLA.

--Henry

I am not sure about BRS, but in many airports they do have a competitor in Aviance, which isn't much use to the airlines that want to offer pax access to the only lounge in the airport, which just happens to be op by Servisair, as is the case in e.g. LBA.

In fact, I am convinced that the rubbish quality of Servisair handling is what prompted AFKL to work with Aviance in jointly developing a BHX lounge.