Seat policy changes

Most recently I had cause to write to Aurigny Air Services following a very unsettling flight across to Manchester and back for my daughter and eight-year-old granddaughter.

On check-in, my daughter was given boarding cards and it was only when walking through into departures, she noticed that, not only were they not seated together, but her eight-year-old daughter was seated in the row ahead.

On boarding the aircraft, she asked the Aurigny cabin crew if they could assist with seating them both together but was informed ‘we are not obliged to seat a child with a parent if they are of age where they are able to sit alone’, which in itself is a ridiculous statement to make. So, I wrote to their complaints department, requesting answers to the following questions:

n The booking process requires when purchasing a ticket for a child, that we submit which age group that child is in, i.e. 16 years and above, 12-15 years, two-11 years or one-23 months of age. Why ask that question if they take no notice of the answer?

n Is it normal policy for Aurigny to separate a child from their parent?

n Where does it state under Aurigny’s T&C that an eight-year-old is old enough to sit on her own?

n Who takes responsibility for that child in the event of an emergency?

n What checks were made beforehand to decide where an eight-year-old should sit?

n What checks were made to ensure that an eight-year-old female was not seated next to somebody unsuitable?

n At what point would she have been considered an unaccompanied minor?

(I will add that the same thing happened on the return flight to Guernsey, though this time the crew did make an effort, however the damage had already been done.)

So all it really boils down to is that money is far more important! If you want to sit next to your child, then pay for it.

To say that I am disgusted is an understatement.

The response I received from Aurigny was: ‘Thanks for your email and please accept our apologies for the delay with our response at this busy time.

‘We’re also sorry for any upset caused on 29 September 2017 when [the mother and child] weren’t seated next to each other. We are working hard to offer the best possible service, so your feedback is important to us. Your comments have been noted and passed on to our manager to see if any improvements can be made.

‘At the moment, we will try and seat parents/guardians and their children next to each other at check-in if we can, but it can be difficult for us to absolutely guarantee this unless the passengers have pre-selected their seats during the booking process.

‘While the pre-seating option isn’t essential, with more and more passenger choosing to do so, there are times when the only seats left available may not be next to each other. In this case, we would then offer two seats as close as possible.

‘An unaccompanied minor service would only apply to children between six and 12 years who are travelling alone without an adult parent/guardian on the same flight.

Aurigny Customer Services.’

JAYNE LE CRAS,

La Tintilee, Ruette des Courtillets,

St Andrew’s, GY6 8YL.

A spokesman for Aurigny said: Having listened to the views of our customers, we are making important changes as part of our new fare structure, which will help ensure families can sit next to each other on board our flights. By selecting the new SMART or FLEXI fares, families will have free seat selection included in their ticket and they will be able to select their seats straight away as part of the booking process.

We believe this will make a big difference to families and is an example of the extra flexibility and choice that the new fares give our customers.