The airline SAS has undoubtedly had one challenging summer with a record-long pilot strike and distraught passengers who didn’t make it on their long-awaited summer holiday.
The frustration with the airline has been felt by many, and there are a number of examples of travellers which has come out hard against the company. One of them is former chairman of Vålerenga Ishockey and TV profile Jan Tore Kjær (53), who raged against the company after SAS canceled his flight hours before departure earlier this summer.
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This week it looked like the same thing was going to happen again when he was once again going to travel with the airline. This time to Hawaii via Los Angeles, but the end of the visa would turn out to be completely different.
– It’s not possible!
In a post on Instagram with a picture of the plane he was actually supposed to board, Kjær could tell his followers that the flight had been suddenly cancelled. But it was neither strike nor illness that meant the plane had to be kept on the ground this time.
“It’s not possible!! The flight was canceled while we were inside the plane. We are told that it has most likely been hit by birds” writes Kjær to the picture followed by several bird emojis.
Kjær tells Nettavisen that he and his traveling companions had settled into the plane with a glass of champagne in hand when the shock message from the pilot came over the loudspeaker.
– «The flight is cancelled.» I just thought is it possible? Also because they had hit some birds when they had landed? I just thought that it shouldn’t be possible for that to happen again, he says.
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Kjær therefore had to pack up his things and leave the plane. Once again he had ended up in a flying nightmare. This time, however, the nightmare was to be short-lived, and angry words on the keyboard have now been replaced by words of praise for the airline SAS.
Less than an hour after the notice of cancellation came, SAS had managed to cough up a “replacement flight” which was supposed to take the passengers “across the pond” to the US west coast.
– Time to brag a bit about SAS
According to Kjær, the plane was identical to the one he was actually supposed to fly with and boasts of SAS who quickly managed to find a solution after the cancellation.
– Now it’s time to brag a bit about SAS too. An hour after the flight to Los Angeles was due to leave, canceled because the plane had hit some birds on the way down, they coughed up a new plane. Identical flight, exactly the same as the previous one, an hour later, writes a satisfied Kjær to his Instagram followers from his seat inside the new plane.
– SAS, now you really deliver! It’s class!
Kjær is impressed by the airline, which not only arranged a new flight, but also sent both passengers and luggage safely to Los Angeles.
– I must say that it is impressive that they are able to cough up such a large plane and get everything ready in such a short time. There are quite a few things that need to be done. You have to fill the plane with food and drink, passengers and security and all that. Not all places were able to get it sorted, so here SAS rolls a six, he says to Nettavisen.
– When I got up to take down the luggage on the original plane, I had not imagined in my wildest imagination that we would be in the air an hour later in a completely identical plane. I don’t imagine they have that many of them readily available, he continues.
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Not only that Kjær and the rest of the passengers made it to Los Angeles, but Kjær can also say that even though the plane took off around an hour and a half after the original flight was supposed to take off, the delay was not that severe after all.
– We landed probably 45 minutes after we were supposed to, so they have managed to catch up a bit too! In other words, SAS delivered in world class and deserves praise!
Safely arrived in Los Angeles, the trip now continues to Hawaii first before they go on a proper tour of the American states.
– Now we’re just going to have a fantastic holiday in the USA. We are going to Hawaii, Los Angeles, Las Vegas and just enjoy ourselves, says Kjær to Nettavisen.
New trust from Kjær
Although the experience with SAS this time was of the good kind, had Kjær, as mentioned, had a somewhat worse experience when he and his wife went on holiday to Cannes in France in May.
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The holiday was a “high-end” trip that the couple had invested a lot of money in. Transport from the airport in France, the hotel in Cannes and a boating activity on Saturday had been booked and paid for. In addition, Kjær had booked a hotel room with a sea view.
At midnight, just hours before departure, SAS canceled their flight.
– At first they wanted to put us on a flight to Frankfurt with a long layover, but they also canceled this before we woke up. We have now received new plane tickets later in the day on Saturday. We lose almost two holiday days and around NOK 6,000-7,000, Kjær told Nettavisen at the time.
– Just the fact that SAS tried to send us to Frankfurt and then fly to Nice, it’s so shameful that they probably realized it themselves. Then I would have sued, he continued.
After the incident in May, Kjær was unsure whether he should bet that the trip to Los Angeles this July would go as planned. He considered rebooking the tickets with another company, but due to high ticket prices he kept the ones he had.
Kjær is happy about that today, and believes that the airline has made up for itself after yesterday’s incident.
– They have had strikes, struggled financially and really been dragged through the mud, but I have to say what they delivered now was class. So if they get back to normal now, they will get new trust from me, says Kjær to Nettavisen today.
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