Andrew Kay: Something to Declare

Considering I never left the mainland UK until I was 21 years old, except for course for a week in The Isle Of Man and a summer in Guernsey that is, I have more than made up for it since. Especially in the last few years since I created the International Chef Exchange Project. You could say that I have become something of an international jet-setter.

Well maybe not, but I have been spending a lot of time travelling and a large amount of that time in airports. I rather like airports, especially since I was introduced to the VIP lounges. They really are rather good, even if they do chew away at my socialist roots.
On my last trip abroad I travelled from Gatwick to Schiphol Holland on EasyJet. Now I know as well as the next person that EasyJet is a sitting target when it comes to criticism. An easy gag in the travel world – which is somewhat unfair. It is, after all, a budget airline, so what should we expect? After all, we love the low prices, enough to book with them over and over again. So my words are this: shut up and ship out quietly if you don’t want to pay for premium air travel.

I do though have an enormous travel gripe, and comes from a land-bound experience.

Travelling by air can be a pretty intimidating experience, especially if it’s a first time or if you have a fear of flying. So surely it is in the interest of airports to make that experience as simple as possible. Do you agree? Yes, I thought you might.
So why did I see some of the worst behaviour of anyone working in the public service sector on my last trip through Gatwick? Let me explain. I was in a large party, some of us had luggage for the hold and some only cabin baggage. We all had printed off our boarding cards before leaving home, so that element, if you a) have a computer and printer and b) have understood that this is possible, is quite simple.

We all proceeded to customs, with our small cabin bags, toiletries in clear plastic bags and our boarding passes and passports ready. Once past the first check we joined the long queues to be scanned and frisked. A way ahead of us there was a man charged with organising the queues. He had on that tell tale lanyard of officialdom and he was most certainly going to use it.

Spotting a couple with luggage that was clearly too large he approached them. They had misunderstood the system and at any previous checks no-one had told them that they needed to check in their bags. All he had to do was politely explain this and guide them back through the process. Kindness would surely have been his first action.
Oh no, this official saw this as an opportunity to berate them loudly, bullying them along and humiliating them as he went. The queue cringed at his vile behaviour and, had we had more guts we might have interjected. But this was a queue to catch a plane and I guess we all knew that any interference might jeopardise our safe and
speedy passage.

Having seen them off, he returned and started to bully the queue again. No smile, no humour, just barking at people. He did it to me, saying that I had loaded my bag onto the conveyor in the wrong way. Pedantry doesn’t cover this man’s attitude.
My bags and my body passed the checks without further incident, and, once I have secured my trousers with the removed belt and zipped up my boots, I sought out a supervisor. I lodged a formal complaint and, as I did so, several other travellers added their voice.

I really hope that he was appropriately disciplined, sent on a course on customer service and manners at the very least.

What a way to treat visitors, welcome to Gatwick, no, worse than that: welcome to Great Britain where we are ruled by small minds.