Passengers onboard a Royal Air Maroc plane heading to London from Casablanca were stunned Saturday when the pilot announced that he would be landing in Marrakech in half an hour after the take-off.
The half-empty direct flight was supposed to reach London at 16h40. But due to a strike by pilots which started Thursday afternoon, almost all of RAM’s fleet was grounded.
It was the latest in a series of strikes by RAM's pilots this year, including two three-day walk-outs last month following the airline’s rejection of the pilots' demand of ‘morocconising the jobs’.
The pilots’ union, which has 400 members, demands RAM give priority to Moroccans over foreign pilots at its low-cost subsidiaries Atlas Blue and RAM Express and give them the same salaries as in RAM.
Asked why there was no announcement either at the airport or by the pilot prior to departure, the air hostess said she did not know anything about it until she boarded the plane with her colleagues who were going to land in Marrakech.
One British passenger started to get ready when the plane touched Marrakech, thinking that she arrived to London until she found out what really happened through the air hostess.
The plane picked up other passengers who were stranded in Marrakech and were seated wherever there were vacant seats.
This is one of the latest flaws of one of the most profitable airlines in North Africa that a passenger likened to Moroccan low-cost coaches which make random stops to pick up passengers on their way to the final destination.
“Poor service”
Many Moroccan customers are complaining that they are not getting the service they expect compared to the high fares they are paying, especially in the summer season. Some of them decided to use other airline companies’ services.
Samir Mezaki, a 28 year-old electro-technical technology engineer and a regular flyer with RAM, said “there are two to three hour flight delays whenever I travel.”
“The service onboard the plane is very poor and slow and you will have to wait for the luggage to be dispatched for so long at Moroccan airports,” he added.
“You have to ask three or four times to get served. Is it worth the money we are paying?” He asked.
Shockingly, an air hostess, who was carrying no ID or badge, asked an African passenger what he wanted in Moroccan “achnou bghiti?” (What do want?) when he courted her services in English, to the laughter of her female colleagues in the rear seats. This is a slap to Moroccan flagship carrier’s image and a sheer breach of professionalism, which should not go unpunished.
The least RAM could have done was to send text messages or emails apologizing to its passengers for the inconvenience caused by the strike as a token of appreciation for their patience.
Amina Khalil, who lives in London, has boycotted la RAM since 1998 because of its poor service, but she decided to send her two kids with the carrier.
Yet, the 37-year-old media manager had a serious issue with the company last year when she sent her two children as accompanied minors.
“I paid for my children to be accompanied by air hostess both ways. I was surprised when they refused to take my children onboard on the way back from Casablanca, saying I have to pay an extra 400 pounds for the air hostess to escort them,” said Khalil.
“Thank God, a female passenger volunteered to escort them to London.”
“I hope RAM officials will deal with the people’s complaints and meet their customers’ demands,” she added.
Dr. Saad Guerraoui, Senior Editor at Middle East Online
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