Life Online - Sri Lanka's Latest Lifestyle Food Factor Fashion & Beauty Updates-life.lk -

That Sri Lankan Charm

Oct 30 2015.

Oh! Colombo

Travelling is always fun but long destination travel on aircrafts can be somewhat of a bore unless you have the ability to sleep through most of the flight. I am one who is quite restless on such flights and keep watching movies or whatever else is available on the entertainment channels to keep me amused and while away the time. It is at such moments that a passenger is happy to receive some extra attention and be pampered with food and beverage. I have to say that our national carrier Sri Lankan Airlines does offer such a special service.

Many of us have travelled with airline passengers who tend to be difficult and I am sure that pleasing such passengers must be somewhat of an undertaking since they are people of varying nationalities from all walks of life, with different temperaments and, in some instances, with personal issues when on board a flight. All such matters have to be handled and sorted out discreetly by the inflight staff who deal with this on a day to day basis.

Working in any service industry requires all the patience in the world and an even temperament is a must. In an airplane it probably is more so since it is difficult to walk away from a situation even for a short while. Even if you wish to slap some passenger who is so irritating, demanding and makes a fuss about everything one cannot do so. It certainly is a class act to maintain that smiling face and listen to the whining of a disgruntled passenger.

Sri Lankan Airlines’ inflight crew has certainly mastered the art of dealing with their passengers. I have to say that on every Sri Lankan Airlines flight I have been the inflight crew have given me nothing but the best of service and attention which is great since it makes one tend to forget many of the other flaws of the Airline.

For those who have been and are a great success in the service industry excelling in dealing with people and situations is a great achievement. The service industry is not meant for all since it is actually an art and we must salute and admire those who are a great success in the field. It certainly takes a lot of time and experience to develop such charm. I am sure that those of us who work in any field that deals with customers have loads of stories to relate of their clients from hell.

I have great admiration for the crew on our national carrier and I sincerely hope that the Sri Lankan charm on-board becomes one of the most talked of in the world since they deserve more recognition than what they are getting at the present.