Brussels Airlines’ Customer Service Department is still seeking solutions for some 63,000 passengers affected by the pilots’ strike announced for next week, the airline said on Friday. The airline said its call centre had been overloaded because of the volume of calls and the difficulty of finding a convenient alternative for each passenger.
The call-centre teams have been beefed up and have been proactively contacting the maximum number of passengers to help them change their flight dates or find alternatives free-of-charge. “We are seeking solutions within the Lufthansa Group, Star Alliance and even with our competitors,” said Company spokesperson Wenke Lemmes. “It’s very complex because what we propose needs to suit the passengers.”
Passengers may also contact the company on social media since the call centre is regularly swamped because of the many calls and the time required to find personalized solutions. “That does not come easily,” Lemmes explained. “We study the options with the passengers and sometimes it takes half an hour to satisfy a single client.”
Brussels Airlines does not yet have any statistics on the number of requests for reimbursements or reservation changes resulting from the strike. Some 60,000 passengers and 557 flights to and from Brussels Airport will be affected on Monday and Wednesday, while 75% of all flights will be cancelled.
The spokesperson also confirmed that the financial impact of the two-day strike was an estimated 4.7 million euros per day, giving a total of close to 10 million euros. This figure includes compensation for affected passengers and reimbursed tickets.
The Brussels Times
