The fallout of Friday’s Microsoft outage continues to impact the travel plans of Australians.
Australia’s travel professionals and businesses moved quickly into action on Friday to provide support to the many Australians whose travel plans were thrown into chaos. The chaos was the result of the flow-on effect of the suspension of check-in services and flights domestically and globally.
OLIVE TREE TRAVEL DIRECTOR STEVEN GREEN:
“I’ve had people who weren’t clients contact me in a panic as a result of the outage, as Jetstar had cancelled their flight from Singapore to Melbourne and rebooked them in six days’ time. There was no accommodation with a credit on offer for the flight. They called to see if we could help get them home earlier. We could.”
“I booked them on two seats on Qantas for Monday evening and was checking hourly over the weekend to see if there were any other options that had opened up for them to get them home earlier. They were happy to pay my booking fee and told me they felt blessed to have a guardian angel on their side, trying all the options for them.”
TAKE OFF GO DIRECTOR IVONA SINIARSKA:
“I had two clients, a mother and son, travelling through the US for a family reunion, who were scheduled to fly from Denver to Chicago to Green Bay. Their flight was supposed to depart at 10 am, but American Airlines hadn’t cancelled the flights in our GDS, so we were uncertain whether the guests should go to the airport.”
“They couldn’t miss the family reunion, so we had to act quickly. As the check-in deadline approached and the airline still showed the flights as cancelled on their website, we decided to skip the chaos and quickly hired a car, so they could drive the 17 hours to make the reunion on time. We also booked them a hotel in Des Moines for their overnight stay. I received a heartfelt message saying they made it to the family reunion on time. They expressed their gratitude for how, within 15 minutes, I was able to cancel their flights, email American Airlines, and book them a car and hotel to ensure they made it to their family gathering.”
ATIA CEO DEAN LONG:
“Travel professionals are worth their weight in gold, particularly during unexpected disruptions. Friday’s Microsoft outages, which led to flight cancellations and check-in delays on a global and domestic scale, underscored the invaluable support our ATAS-accredited members provide.”
“Australia’s travel professionals went above and beyond over the weekend to help their clients and non-clients who reached out in desperation. Choosing an ATAS-accredited travel professional means choosing peace of mind and reliable assistance, no matter the circumstances.”
